Rainbow Tears
by Magnus McKay
Summary: Times are hard and friends are few, but when Wash gets a call from a very old friend, there's a job on the cards for the crew of Serenity. But all is not as it seems, friendships will have to evolve, twisted alliances be made and enemies tackled... life is not easy when all you want to do is keep flying.
1. Prologue

The black expanse of space. Below is a beautiful pale blue-green moon. A Firefly class ship is hurtling towards the moon at tremendous speed. Hot on its tail is a sleek, modern ship, armed to the teeth with weapons that could blast the Firefly out of the black. The gun turrets built up on the sides of the ship are pointing at the Firefly, threatening to do just that.

The Firefly hits atmo and kicks up a brilliant golden, red flare of flame behind it. The ship shakes as it continues to break through the atmosphere of the small moon. Seconds later the second ship hit's the atmosphere sending another plume of golden flame flying up and out into space. The second ship has a better entry angle than the Firefly and the entry to the atmosphere is smooth, text book.

The Firefly breaks through atmo, leaving a plume of acrid black smoke behind it as it descends. Its aft section is spewing large amounts of smoke into the air right in front of the second ship. The damage to the Firefly is enormous. The nose seems more squashed and blunter, as if it had been at Full Burn when it hit something. The large painted name of the ship has all but been scraped off the side of the ship, but the writing is still legible, Serenity.

Serenity is in definite trouble as she shudders and shakes, plummeting towards the ground. She tries to lift her nose but there's just not enough thrust. The engines are all but burn out and they're spitting flecks of blue flame as it hurtles on towards the ground. On the bridge of the stricken ship, two men are positioned, staring out at the ground. Both have a look of grim defiance.

The man sat at the controls of the ship, obviously the pilot, is Hoban Washburne. His face is twisted in a strange mixture of terror and concentration. He is battered and bruised, his lip swollen and bleeding, a three inch gash above his left eye is slowly oozing blood down his sickly, pale cheek. His blonde hair is plastered to his face with blood and sweat. A mixture of the two is running towards his blue eyes, however he ignores this and barely blinks as the ship descends to impending doom. His loud Hawaiian shirt is soaked in blood, some of it his own, some of it from the man who is stood behind him, a hand on his shoulder.

Captain Malcolm Reynolds is leaning over Washs' shoulder watching as the ground rushes up to meet them. His attire is in little better state than Washs'. The left arm of his rust red shirt is ripped from the shoulder down and a large gash is pouring with blood. His military style trousers are flecked with blood and dirt. He looks woozy from the loss of blood from both his arm and the nosebleed he is unable to stop. Most of the blood he is loosing is pouring down his arm and soaking into the shoulder of Washs' shirt. Both men have blackened, unblinking eyes.

The ship is bucking as if trying to right itself and Wash hangs onto the controls for dear life, his cracked knuckles bleeding over the controls, making them slippery. He is breathing heavily as he tries with all his might to wrestle the ship into a better position.

"I'm sorry Mal, this is all my gorramn fault. I should never have gotten you the job. It was suicide." Wash mutters still fighting.

"My ship, my fault," he looks down at Wash, "You're an amazing pilot Wash."

Mal claps him on the shoulder and his eyes return to the ground that now fills the whole of the windows scope. Wash looks like he's about to be sick. Mal closes his eyes ready for impact.

But Wash can't look away, a single tear rolls down his cheek and he takes a deep breath and closes his eyes tightly, his lips moving in silent prayer.


	2. Chapter 1

GREENLEAF - 3 DAYS EARLIER

Mal slowly makes his way through the crowded market place of Greenleaf. Flanking him are Zoe Washburn and Jayne Cobb. Zoe is a well poised military girl and is dressed the same as Mal. The two fought together in the war and have been partners ever since. Her dark hair is tied up out of her face and her brown eyes are scanning the market place for any signs of danger to her companions.

Jayne is the complete opposite of both Zoe and Mal. He's a hulking mercenary with a gun visibly slung at his hip. His hand never move more than a couple of inches away from it in the large crowd. His attire is more normal and down to earth than Mal and Zoe's. He's dressed in light brown combat pants and a faded Blue Sun Cola t-shirt that has seen better days judging by the many repairs to small holes, and some larger ones. His hair is cropped shirt and a small shaped beard adorns his face. His dark, deep set eyes are scanning the weapon stalls and the harem of young ladies who are hanging round the stalls.

Behind the three lookouts the rest of the crew of Serenity follow at a more sedate pace, stopping to look at stalls. Already the ships mechanic, Kaylee Frye, a pretty young thing wearing patched dungarees and a bright flowery t-shirt, has her hands full of engine parts. Her light hazel eyes light up as she spots a brand new damper gleaming in atop a table amidst more worn parts. She rushes forward to look at the items for sale, her hair fluttering in the breeze.

Simon Tam, the ships doctor watches her as she admires the items of machinery from every angle, turning it over and over in her nimble hands. Simon seems like an odd person to be travelling with such a ragtag crew. He is clean cut and everything from his neatly parted dark brown hair to the crisp white shirt and richly coloured waist coat screams wealth. He smiles at Kaylee begins to haggle with the salesman. Wash hits him in the stomach and points towards a table of jewellery, laid out on a rich cloth table cover. Wash whispers something to him and the two move towards the table, hoping to go unseen in the crowd. Between them however they stick out like two sore thumbs. Wash is wearing a violently bright Hawaiian shirt covered in dinosaurs that is earning him more than a few bemused stares from passers by.

Behind the rest of the crew, River Tam slowly follows. From her bare feet to the melon cradled in her arms you can tell that she is not entirely normal. She's dressed in a large, ill-fitting blue knitted jumper, possibly one of Jayne's hand-me-downs, over the top of a pale blue skirt. Her hair is straggly and lank, half of it covers her face, hiding it from the market-goers. She mutters to herself as she walks along, tenderly cradling the melon, towards Mal, Zoe and Jayne.

Jayne attentively sniffs the air like a blood hound.

"Whats that smell? Smells like my Ma's jew-allrey box." he ponders thoughtfully.

"That'd be soap. The stuff you use to wash," Simon looks Jayne up and down, "Or maybe not in your case."

Jayne ignores the doctors comment and moves off towards the soap stall, the source of the smell. He sniffs deeply and suddenly, violently sneezes, causing a loud outburst from River.

"_Hwun Dahn! Gao yang jond duh yang!_ You'll wake the baby!" she yells.

The cursing causes a group of elderly ladies at the wool stall to look up from their knitting and tut loudly, beginning to rant about young people and their manners. River ignores the women and begins to softly sing an old Earth-That Was lullaby.

"When the bough brakes the cradle ill fall, down will come baby, cradle and all…" she moves off towards Mal and Zoe, leaving Jayne looking mighty creepified. He too catches up with Mal and Zoe.

"So where are we meetin' this guy?" Jayne asks rubbing his nose with the back of his hand.

"At some upper market clothes shop. Kinda place that the doc would look right at home at." Mal replies not taking his eyes off the crowds, still scanning for trouble.

Zoe looks at Mal intently.

"You think this will be wise, Sir? We don't know the guy." she looks back up at the crowd, squinting.

"Your husband knows him, take it up with him if there's any problems." Mal looks at Zoe for a second.

"Hey Captain, you casting nasturtions on my judgement? Rem is an old friend. A friend of the family, the family being… uh, me!" Wash smiles and throws a slightly sunburnt arm around Zoe's shoulders.

From behind his back, he produces a small parcel, a beautifully wrapped gift wrapped in blue and silver. Zoe looks surprised at the appearance of the gift. Wash smiles looking from the box up to Zoe and back to the box expectantly. Zoe peels away the wrapping paper to reveal a pale blue jewellery box. For a moment the normal bad ass Zoe look fades away and she blushes as she opens the box. Nestled within the box is a beautiful silver necklace, a pendant of opal, shaped as a teardrop, glitters in the sunlight. Zoe hugs Wash tightly. Kaylee moves in to look at the necklace and her eyes glow like she's just seen a new conductor coil.

"Oh pretty! Wash you have wonderful taste!" she moves closer as they pull away from another.

She practically snatches Zoe's hand towards her for a better look at the necklace. Wash shares a significant look with Simon who looks down at the floor smiling.

"Happy Anniversary, lambie-toes!" Wash says smiling brightly.

"Thank you _bao bay_," Zoe looks over at Simon, who doesn't meet her eyes, "And thank you Simon, for helping him pick it out."

"Wha-ha-hey! How'd you know?" Wash splutters flabbergasted.

Zoe points to a at a mirror from a stall angle towards the couple. Wash looks forlorn.

"_Go se…_"

River peers over Zoe's shoulder, standing on tip toe, looking closely at the necklace. She licks her lips and look up at Zoe, who is admiring the rainbow stone in the sunlight.

"Unlucky stone. Tears will fall… all will fall, broken… shattered." she mutters loudly.

Wash raises his eyebrows and looks nervously at River.

"What now?" he asks looking creepified by her comment.

"Opal, the death stone, unlucky death. All that wear it will certainly die." River mutters not taking her eyes off the necklace.  
Mal moves forward from where he's been watching the exchange.

"Okay creepy girl, you go back to hugging your watermelon. Wash where the hell is this guy to?" he asks impatiently.

"Uh," Wash glances around a bit, "Up here, wait…that shop there." he points to a shop, just visible behind a line of stalls.

Multicoloured clothes gleam in the sunlight outside the shop door. Wash smiles to himself, still looking bashful from Rivers comment. Zoe sees this and fastens the necklace around her neck in defiance. Wash perks up as the group moves towards the shop.

The crew step into the shop and stumble as their eyes adjust. They look around the room, it has a warm feeling to it. Every available surface is covered in clothes of every style and colour. River walks into the shop and the door slams behind her with a sickening finality. Mal, Zoe and Jayne twist round to face it, pulling out their guns and pointing them at the door. There's no one there, Simon tries the door handle and shrugs. He looks back at Mal and freezes looking over his shoulder. Behind Mal there's the low high-tech hum and click of a laser pistol, the crew turn round and stare at the counter. Mal closes his eyes and turns around, opening them to see a tall woman stood behind the counter. She's wearing a floor length black leather coat over the top of a pair of tight trousers and a fitted black shirt. In her hand is a silver gun similar to the one Mal is holding up at her. The woman's startling green eyes glint from underneath the shock of short black hair across her face. She licks her deep red lips carefully and points the gun at Wash and looking at Mal, Zoe and Jayne who have their guns trained on her.

"Put the guns away people, or you'll be missing a pilot." the woman glances at Wash and moves forward, her gun pointed at his head.

Zoe puts her gun away straight away and Jayne follows suit, but Mal keeps his gun trained on the woman. Jayne looks the woman up and down.

"This is the guy you know?" he asks Wash, who is stood in shock staring at the gun.

"I never said it was a guy." Wash replies bashfully.

"Guns away, please." the woman motions at Mal with her gun, he reluctantly slides his pistol into its holster.

Jayne gives Wash a funny look, his eyebrows raised slightly.

"I never said it was a guy…" Wash repeats looking away from Jayne and back at the woman.

The woman moves further forward, the gun is now inches from Wash's head. He looks like he's about to be sick. The woman studies him for a second, taking in the orange jumpsuit and the bright Hawaiian shirt for a moment and then looks up at his face properly.

"You know my daddy told me if I ever did see you again I should shoot you dead after the way you left me. Leaving without even a goodbye." she says softly, her eyebrows deeply knitted into a frown.

"Rem, I… wait, what?" Wash looks even more sickly.

He looks pleadingly over at Zoe who folds her arm and raises her eyebrows, the movement makes her necklace glint in the light. Rem continues.

"Said I was a fool to try and stay with someone as land-crazy as you." she holsters her gun and smiling, pulls Wash into a hug.

A wave of relief hit's the crew and Wash sighs thankfully. Rem pulls back from the hug.

"Washie, its just been too gorramn long! _Lau pung you, ne can chi lai hun you jing shen_!" Rem smiles brightly at him, the air of menace gone.

"Washie?" Kaylee smirks.

The rest of the crew, except for River, hide laughs and smiles behind their hands. River just looks at Rem intently. Rem looks around smiling as the laughs die away.

"Why don't you introduce me to your crew?" Rem looks back at Wash expectantly.

Mal steps forward smiling slightly, unsure of the unexpected soft side of the woman who was pointing a gun at his pilot.

"Actually ma'am that'd be my crew," he shakes hands with Rem, "Captain Malcolm Reynolds."

"Pleased to meet'cha Captain Reynolds!" Rem tips her head on one side.

"Now tell me missy, how'd you know our… 'Washie'?" Mal asks looking at Washs' pained face.

"Oh, Wash and I used to date back in the day when we were in flight school. Was nice 'til he ran off after graduation. I'd get a Wave now and then, not as often as I'd like, it was basically just to tell me he was still alive and flying. Not heard from him since before the war, thought the Alliance had gotten a hold of him… or worse." Rem looks down at the floor, her fringe falling in her face.

"So you two used to date?" Zoe asks coldly.

Wash's face is now bright red and he smiles at Zoe bashfully. "Rem, this is my wife, Zoe." Rem's eyebrows shoot up and disappear under her fringe. She gives Zoe a wide smile.

"So he finally found someone to put up with him, huh," Rem shakes hands with Zoe, "Good job getting rid of that damn face ferret! I tried for gorramn years." Zoe gives Rem a wider smile, to her, Rem is no threat.

As she relaxes so does the rest of the crew, as if she was keeping the crew tense they relax around her. Mal takes over the introductions to the other crew members.

"This is Jayne, Kaylee, ships mechanic, Simon, our doctor and…" he gets to River and he surveys her for a second "And this is River our…chef."

"Sure ain't much cheffin' to be done on a transport ship. Mainly protein base isn't it?" Rem says.

Mal looks over at River who is still hugging the watermelon and humming lullabies quietly to herself, her eyes following the lines of clothes.

"I know who you are. I have no quarrel with fugee's." Rem says softly not taking her eyes of River.

Simon lets out the breath he's been holding. During the exchange, Kaylee has moved off to look at some of the clothes on display.

"Now that's everyone, lets get down to business." Mal says clapping his hands together. "Straight to the point, I like that Captain Reynolds." Rem leads Mal, Zoe, Jayne and Wash to the back room.

"Its quicker that way I figure." Mal says following.

Rem leads the four members of the crew into the backroom of the shop which is surprisingly much larger than the shop itself. The room is decorated in bright colours and has a homey feel to it with a large comfy looking sofa against the wall and a small kitchen area along the longest wall. The windows and doors are wide open letting a lazy breeze into the stuffy room. As the four members of Serenity's crew settle themselves on the sofa, a thunderous Taiko drum beat fills the room from the street. Rem Rushes towards the door angrily.

"Enough of this _luh-suh_, every midday! _Wuo dun MA_!" she slams the door and window shutting out the sound of the drums.

Rem pulls a thick velvet curtain right across the wall cutting out the sound completely. She sighs and pulls her coat off throwing it onto the makeshift bed in the corner. The crew looks at her expectantly as she sits down in a squashy high backed chair facing the sofa. Rem surveys the crew before her, her eyes lingering on Wash.

"I have quite the job for you Captain. On the other side of the planet is an Alliance shipment of protein and medication. Its headed to the Alliance base on this rock," she looks at Mal, who is listening intently, "I want you to steal it."

Rem leans forward in her chair, waiting to see what the captain will say. But its Wash who says something first.

"Dear God, you expect us to pull this off?"

Rem looks up at him, closes her eyes and nods to herself.

"I can see how you think that you're going to have trouble getting the goods," she opens her eyes and looks at Mal, "But I need that equipment."

"So's you can sell it on for three times the price, coz that's what it sounds like to me." Jayne smirks.

"No, so I can save peoples lives." Rem replies quietly.

She looks back at Wash who looks at her puzzled. She realizes that Mal is waiting for an explanation.

"I don't know if you heard a couple of years back, there was a massive breakout from an Alliance prison. The public only knew that they were Independent soldiers kept as prisoners of war. But it was more than that. It was families loyal to the Independence too. I had a hand with the breakout and the following clear up letting them escape without a trace." Rem closes her eyes again as she finishes.

Mal, Zoe and Jayne look at each other, Wash just looks stunned. Rem continues.

"I found them a nice little moon, already terraformed and ready to go. Well out of the way of those Alliance wahg-ba dan duh puo-foo. The problem is they've had a harsh winter this year and food supplies are practically non-existent. Illness is ripping families apart. I need your help. If I get the goods then you'll be very well paid. And I think that you'd want to help out old comrades Captain." Rem looks at Mal, closely studying his reaction.

Mal is looking down at the floor. Rem reaches behind her chair and throws a huge money bag at Mal, who catches it in surprise. Mal opens it and peers inside, he looks back up at Rem.

"You're showin' this now? I could just shoot you and take it." Wash glares at Mal in disgust as he says that and Zoe's eyebrows fall and she looks angrily at Mal.

Rem smiles and looks deep into Mal's eyes.

"That's only half of the pay out." she says smiling.

Jayne sits up suddenly very interested.

"Half, damn…" he mutters peering over Mals shoulder.

Mal weighs the coin in his hands.

"Half now, the other half when you get the job done. Maybe more if I can get it, hell this job is worth every penny." Rem adds making the deal all the more juicy and tempting.

It's a huge amount of money for such a task, and this puzzles Mal.

"Why so much for the job? Whats the catch?" he asks suspiciously looking at Rem.

She puts her head on one side and pulls a funny face as she considers the questions.

"Well its under 24 hour surveillance protected by thirty highly trained Alliance soldiers at any one time. The amount you'll be taking, well lets just say your ship will be pretty stuffed…And I want to go with you. Its time for me to leave Greenleaf I think." Rem leans back again and the room falls into silence.

From the shop Kaylee's voice carries, she's trying to persuade Simon to try on a new shirt. Mal continues to weigh up the coin in his hand. There's enough in his hand to buy a second ship, and with the second instalment there would be enough for the whole crew to settle down on an outer moon and lead proper lives. There was only one thing that Mal could really say.

"Well ma'am," he looks up at Rem, "You got yourself a deal."


	3. Chapter 2

Mal, Zoe, Jayne and Wash step out into the brilliant sunlight of Greenleaf. They stand and blink for a second their eyes adjusting to the sudden change of light. Through the open door of the shop, Kaylee, River and Simon are picking out new clothes. Mal smiles and turns to Wash, he looks very pleased.

"You know, you did real good, that Rem, well She's quite the little business lady." he claps Wash on the shoulder still beaming.

"Yeah, thanks, Mal," Wash pauses, "The jobs pretty dangerous all the same, Mal."

"Life was getting boring, and the pay is too good to pass up on." Mal folds his arms looking wistful.

"Yeah, 'cause getting shot at makes life less boring." Wash mutters under his breath.

Jayne looks puzzled, his eyebrows tightly furrowed.

"Makes y'kinda think where she got all that coin from in the first place." he muses.

"Do you mind?" Wash glares up at Jayne.

He pulls himself up to his full height and Jayne does the same glaring right back, there is quite a height difference and a definite difference in build.

"It might be stolen. Or marked by the Alliance." Jayne growls and spits on the ground.

"And maybe your pushing this too damn far." Wash takes a step forward.

They stare at each other in a Mexican-stand off way. Mal and Zoe stand back, shocked at Wash's defensiveness. It's a side they don't often see. Zoe steps forward and puts a calming hand on Wash's arm, but he doesn't take his eyes off Jayne.

"Honey, this isn't the time, or the place. You start fightin' and we'll have the Alliance on us in a second." Wash blinks as if stepping out of a trance and looks at Zoe.

He deflates a little as he looks at Zoe. He begins to walk away.

"Mal, I'll go fuel Serenity. She'll be ready to go within the hour." he yells as he strides away. He disappears into the crowd, throwing a last look at Jayne.

Jayne calms down and glances at Zoe.

"Ah come on, you was thinking the same!" he shrugs smiling a little.

Zoe looks coldly at him. Mal steps towards her, staring at Jayne.

"Actually, judging by what she's wearing, I recon she could 'ford this job three or four times over." Zoe looks at the captain, taking in his comment.

"You having second thoughts, sir?" she asks worriedly.

Mal ponders this for a moment.

"No, I recon this Rem is the real deal. And she an old friend of Wash, so I got no quarrel with her or her money. Hell if she was with the Alliance she would have called them already. Simon and Rivers faces and descriptions are all over the Cortex. She'd get a pretty penny for turnin' those two in, but you'd know all 'bout that Jayne." Mal stops and looks up at Jayne, whose face is pulled into a sour look.

Without another word he too disappears into the crowd. Zoe smiles at Mal.

"Glad we're on the same wavelength, Sir."

Simon is stood in front of a full length mirror in Rems shop. He's checking himself out from every angle. He's dressed in a pair of slightly shabby pale trousers and a dark red button up shirt. Its blatantly obvious he hasn't picked this outfit out himself. Kaylee studies him over Rivers shoulders she helps her with a deep blue, silk sari. River twirls around a little, letting the sari billow out a little. Kaylee throws the rest of the sari over Rivers shoulder and smiles.

"You look like a perfect little doll!" she exclaims, clapping her hands together.

River picks up her melon looking pleases at her new clothing. Simon stops looking at himself from every angle and stands still looking displeased.

"Kaylee, why did you pick this out for me? I look like a clone of the captain," Simon frowns pulling at the shirt, "A very poor clone." he adds under his breath.

Kaylee picks up the cute shirt she's decided on and moves next to Simon holding it up to herself and turning to the side.

"If you're gonna go dirtside on a moon like this then you're gonna have to dress less…you." she smiles at him nervously.

"Less me?" Simon asks puzzled.

Kaylee turns away from him and bites her lip, she turns back having chosen carefully what she wants to say.

"Compared to the rest of the crew, 'part from 'Nara…" Kaylee pauses, she looks sadly up at Simon, she misses Inara, "You stick out like a sore thumb."

Simon studies Kaylee for a second and then turns back to the mirror. Kaylee moves off to look at other shirts.

"I guess, but Kaylee," she turns, smiling, "Let me pick next time."

Kaylee nods and pulls out another shirt.

The bridge of Serenity is drenched in bright sunlight streaming through the windows illuminating the usually darkened room. Wash is sat in the pilot seat with his feet up on the console. He sits quietly in the empty ship, looking out of the window, thinking. He sighs and begins to flick switches, checking the systems. He stops midway through his sudden flurry of movement and sits back again, once more lost in thought. He picks his favourite T-Rex up off the scanner and puts his feet back up, hugging the dinosaur tightly like it's a cuddly kitten. So lost in thought, he doesn't hear Rem enter the bridge, looking around at the controls in silent admiration. Her eyes settle on Wash and she smiles to herself, shaking her head.

"You still playing with your dinosaurs?"

Wash jumps and slips forward off his pilots chair and onto the floor. The dinosaur he's holding flies into the air.

"_Wuh duh ma!_ You frightened the life out of me!" Wash struggles up and back into his chair wiping the sweat off his embarrassed, red face.

Rem laughs and picks up the dinosaur and gives it a hug.

"Hello Brutus, how are you?" she asks the dinosaur.

She gives it a last hug and puts it back on the scanner and pats it on the head. She sinks into the pilot seat, throwing her coat over the back of it. She stares out into the sunlight sky.

"So tell me Wash, really… how've you been?" she jerks her head towards Wash, looking at him lopsidedly.

Wash smiles and enthusiastically resettles herself in his seat so he can see Rem better through the beams of sunlight.

"Seriously? I've been great!" he smiles to himself, folding his hands in his lap.

Rem smiles but doesn't look back at him.

"Good I'm glad," she replies a little hollowly, "I've missed you Washie, its not been the same without you. After the war I though you were dead, then outta the black here you are! Piloting a Firefly and MARRIED! Tell me, how exactly did you manage to find me to Wave me?"  
Rem glances sideways at Wash.

"I got contacts… Universe put me on to you," Wash grins broadly, "And its good to see you too, I missed you too."

Rem looks down at her hands and takes a deep breath. She bites her lip longing to say something. She can't help getting a little angry.

"Then why didn't you Wave me then?" she balls her hands into fists.

Wash is shocked by the sudden change of tone.

"I… my… I got a bit… swept away. I'm a bit out of touch with everything, everyone." he tries to explain.

"For six years," Rem ask snappily, "Six gorramn years Hoben! I waited for you on that _ee da tuo da bien_ moon for you! I waited all those years, you said you'd come back for me, you promised that you'd never leave me behind." she leans forward and slams her hands on the console, tears running down her face.

She closes her eyes and looks back at Wash who looks shocked and slightly scared by her outburst.

"And then you roll up after all these years, you got yourself a ship and a wife… and I got left with nothing… again." Rem slumps as she finishes and cries softly.

Wash gets up and cautiously hugs Rem, crouching down to her height. She calms down and wipes her eyes. Wash looks at her guiltily

"I'm sorry, I just couldn't have stayed and Zoe and me sorta, just happened. I was looking for a ship and I found love as well." he explains.  
Rem nods a lot calmer now and she breaths deeply. She doesn't meet Wash's eyes.

"I'm the one who should be sorry. I'm happy for you I really, truly am. I should let go of the past." she smiles and glances at Wash who sighs and smiles back, jumping up.

"Thanks. And I want you to know I would have come beck for you, but it was… complicated." he puts his hand on Rem's shoulder looking guilty.

Rem clasps Wash's hand in hers and jumps up too.

"Well we can spend time together now and you can tell me everything that's happened to you after the past six years, have a proper catch up." she says excitedly, however her eyes are still dark and lonely.

Wash lets go of Rem's hands and begins to flick switches. Serenity's engines and lights spark into life with a loud whine. Wash continues to prep the engines, warming them up before the rest of the crew return to the ship. He looks over his shoulder at Rem.

"I want to hear what happened to you. You graduate flight school okay?" he asks looking at the scanner.

Rem laughs and rolls her eyes, laughing.

"How'd you think I get here in the first place? But… I sorta crashed and got stuck here 'bout 8 months back. Couldn't get hold of a new ship so I decided to try and settle down, I missed messing up the Alliances plans though." she smiles and sits back in the co-pilots seat.

Rem and Wash wander down the stairs that descends to the cargo room floor. Mal and Zoe walk up the ramp and through the open cargo doors, they're talking animatedly and as they spot Rem and Wash they stop, smiling and watching them descend the stairs. Mal and Zoe catch the end of their conversation.

"-Couldn't move for gorramn weeks!" Rem laughs loudly.

Wash roars laughing and nearly trips down the stairs. Rem deftly holds his arm stopping him from falling down the final few steps. Wash embarrassedly straightens up and walks towards Zoe planting a kiss on her cheek. He rubs the back of his neck embarrassedly, his face bright red, Mal smirks at Zoe.

"Hey honey! Got everything sorted dirtside?" Wash asks trying to hide his embarrassment.

"Kaylee and Simon have sorted out supplies, dear." Zoe replies laying a hand on Washs chest.

Right on time Kaylee and Simon walk up the ramp followed by a very happy looking River who has the watermelon tucked under her arm. She swings a pretty red umbrella painted with cherry blossom round in her hand. She opens it with one hand with flourish and swings it onto her shoulder like an elegant Victorian lady. She twirls round and curtsies to Mal who smiles and gives her a short bow back. With a flurry of movement, the umbrella is folded away quickly and River runs off laughing. Mal shakes his head and looks up at Kaylee.

"You get everything we need?" he asks.

"And more!" Kaylee smiles brightly and winks at River who is stood in the door to the common area.

River smiles and dashes down the stairs, disappearing into the ship. Mal looks very confused by the girls exchange and looks sidelong at Kaylee.

"Wha-What was that all about?" he asks uncertainly.

"Never mind Captain! Oh Zoe," Kaylee brightens, "I got those packages for you!" She smiles at Wash who looks excitedly between the two women.

"Oh packages? Packages sound good! Zoe whats-" Zoe holds up a hand cutting of the barrage of Washs questions.

"Calm down, if you're lucky you might find out later." she smiles at Kaylee.

"Yeah, uh huh later sounds… great!" Wash says practically bouncing up and down in excitement.

Mal sighs and turns to Wash, glancing at Rem as he does so.

"Wash, lets get this boat in the air." Mal walks towards the common area, he suddenly pauses and looks around.

"Hang on where the hell is Jayne to?" he asks.

Wash stops, his foot hovering above the next step up the stairs to the bridge.

"_Juh jen sh guh kwai luh duh jean jan. Liou coe shway duh biao-tze huh hoe-tze duh ur-tze. Jing-tzahng mei me yon duh!_" he rants, putting his feet down heavily filling the cargo hold with the clang of boots on metal.

He hit's a switch on the way through to the bridge. The ramp begins to lift slowly and the cargo doors begin to close.

Just in time, Jayne jumps onto the ramp and stomps into the cargo hold the doors shutting behind him. He's still in a foul mood. As he stomps towards the common area, Mal glares at him. "You late again, we leave you behind." Mal yells as he passes.

"_Ohur ni-duh_!" Jayne snaps storming past Mal angrily.

Mal watches him go, hands on his hips, hard faced. Rem steps forward and tentively licks her lips.

"Why do I have an awful feeling that was something to do with me, Captain?" she asks nervously.

Mal shakes his head dismissively and turns to her.

"_Fahng-sheen_. Everything's shiny. Jayne's just sore that he had a bit of the truth put his way. Recon it stings him some." Mal goes to step through the doorway.

"I'm sorry Captain," she bows to him and them to Zoe "I have just received a Wave as to where you will have to plot course to," Mal looks blankly at Rem and Zoe rolls her eyes, "You did say you were willing to meet the rest of my conspirators, Captain Reynolds. And we're going to need to get the drop point co-ordinates from them. It would be dangerous to transmit them over the Cortex."

Rem looks down at her intertwined fingers and looks up at Mal. Mal closes his eyes and sighs.

"That's fine! I tell Wash-"

Rem cuts across him before he gets the chance to finish his sentence.

"I took the liberty." she smiles.

Mal nods and Rem gives him a little bow and moves off towards the passenger deck. Mal hit's the comm.

"Wash get us to the co-ordinates fast as you can. Kaylee, get Serenity ready for Full Burn if we need it."

Serenity's engines whine loudly as she hovers above the ground. Her engines rotate lifting her skywards. She lifts her nose up and blasts towards atmo, leaving a cloud of pale dust swirling in her wake.


	4. Chapter 3

Serenity glides through the black at Full Burn, she seems to shimmer with a magical glow as she powers forward. A little way off a large dull gray ship floats in space. From outside she looks beaten and battered, a stranded, broken down vessel in the vast expanse of the black.

On the bridge, Wash is sat in the pilots seat, holding course towards the powered down ship. Along the side of the old ship in faded, slightly burnt paint is her name, The Horizon. Wash looks worried and tense with every second that they draw closer to the ship. He checks the scanner again, unsure.

"It just doesn't make any kind of sense," he looks back up at the ship, "No sense at all."

Mal enters and his eyes are immediately drawn to the ship that fills the full view of the windows of the bridge. He leans on the back of the pilots seat and peers at the scanner.

"Muh…" he mutters looking confused and concerned by the results, "No life signs on board."

"You don't think it could be Reavers do you?" Wash asks looking a little panicked.

The two of them look back up at the ship as they approach, closer and closer.

"I think we should turn around. I don't like the look of this. Haven't forgotten the last time we boarded a ship like this, you know." Mal shudders as he says this and turns to leave, but comes face to face with Rem.

She looks at Mal intently then carefully steps around him to look at the looming ship through the windows.

"You will continue course, Captain." she says not turning.

Mal looks over his shoulder at her and smirks.

"The ships dead, scanners saying no life," Mal suddenly looks hard faced, "And nobody orders me around on my own gorramn boat." he turns back around to look at Rem properly, who looks back at him calmly.

The Wave monitor crackles into life and Wash twists a dial, an old voice fills the bridge clearly.

"Firefly Class ship, Serenity, you are cleared for docking with The Horizon." Mal looks over at Wash who is also wearing the same puzzled expression.

They both look to Rem for guidance and she moves swiftly over to the Wave monitor, leaning across Wash to get to the microphone. She flicks a switch and speaks clearly into it.

"This is Rem, Horizon you are good to power up."

The ship before them powers up in a blaze of coloured lights. The bridge is filled with a bright green flashing light from the docking bay.

"See you on board, Rem." the voice cuts out and the Wave fades to black.

Rem carefully untangles herself from Wash and turns back to Mal, who looks suitably impressed.

"The ship has a sort of cloaking device. Cuts out all life signs and heat signatures on other ships scanners. Universe cooked it up for us a while back. The perfect disguise, as long as you don't move 'bout too much. To any none friendly ship approaching, it looks like Reavers hit it and anyone with their head screwed on right steers clear." Rem explains looking a little smug at Wash and Mal's impressed smiles.

Wash shakes his head, staring up at the ship as Serenity docks smoothly.

"_Tyensai…_" he mutters under his breath.

Serenity's engines power down and her behind stops to glow. As she cools down two large metal arms with large suckers descend and hold the ship in place, cradling it gently and locking it in place. The lights aboard Serenity slowly flicker out as the two ships are once again plunged into darkness.

The crew stand in the cargo hold, facing the huge doors. Rem is stood before them all her hands on her hips. Mal folds his arms and leans against the stairs waiting for the cargo doors to open.

The doors open very slowly, the ramp descending equally as slow. A gust of heavy air flows through into the cargo hold, making Rem and Mal's coats billow a little in the sudden breeze. An old, bearded man, dressed in a rich looking waistcoat that is a few sizes to small for him, judging by the strain on the big brass buttons, walks up the ramp and into the cargo hold as fast as his little fat legs let him. He beams at the crew and Rem walks forward, smiling, speed in her pace.

"Daddy!" she hugs him tightly which is no mean feet as she has to crouch a little to get her arms around him properly.

They pull away and Rem takes a step backwards, turning to the crew.

"Daddy… father, this is the crew of Serenity. And this," she turns her father towards Mal, "Is Captain Malcolm Reynolds."

Rem waves her hand toward Mal, who moves forward and shakes the mans hand, studying him closely.

"Daniel Lewis at your service." the man says in a booming voice, bowing slightly to Mal.

"Malcolm Reynolds at yours," he doesn't return the bow, but turns to his crew "This is my crew. Kaylee Frye, mechanic. Jayne Cobb, hired gun. Simon Tam doctor and his sister River our…chef. Zoe Washburne and…I think you know Wash."

Mal looks back at Daniel who is studying Wash and Zoe closely, they're holding hands.

"Did you say Zoe 'Washburne'?" he asks looking the couple up and down with his beady green eyes.

Zoe gives him a stiff smile, a smile reserved for people she would like to sink a bullet into.

"Yes Sir, that'd be correct." she looks at him coldly as Daniel judges Wash.

He moves towards him and, surprisingly, slaps a hand on Wash's shoulder, beaming.

"Well I… smack my behind and call me Buddha! You got yourself a wife! See now Rem you should stop-"

"Daddy," Rem cuts across him, "Do you want to show the crew to the board room?" she asks her eyes menacing as she looks at her father.

Daniel looks at her carefully, studying her expression, which is very sour. He nods slowly and leads the crew onto The Horizon without another word.

The crew are lead through a large dirty corridor. They pass several doors leading to different areas of the ship. The rest of the crew don't pay any real attention, except maybe to glance in for a second as they pass, however River slows down and peers into each one, taking everything in. The crew don't notice her slip away down a service corridor.

The crew continue on, none the wiser to River's disappearance. Kaylee pauses suddenly and looks down a small corridor, at the end of which the engine room resides.

"Captain can I…" she gestures toward the engine room.

Mal glances sideways at her.

"Best stay together little Kaylee, recon Mr Lewis and his friends would like to talk to the lot of us." he replies.

Kaylee narrows her eyes. Daniel stops suddenly and Jayne nearly walks into him.

"Well little lady, you wanna take a look at my crates engine be my guest!" he says, cheerfully waving towards the engine room.

Jayne dodges round him and hit's the wall with a dull thud. Wash smirks. Daniel ignores this and leans towards Kaylee to whisper to her.

"Tell you the truth, she's in need of a bit of attention. We haven't exactly got the best mechanics in the 'Verse." he smiles warmly.

Kaylee looks at Mal pleadingly, she flutters her eye and tilts her head in a puppy dog fashion, trying to look as cute as possible. Mal sighs, realising he is fighting a loosing battle.

"Fine," he says quietly, "But you brake anything and you think 'bout who'll have to pay for it." he gives her a warning look.

Kaylee smiles broadly and claps her hands together in happiness.

"You're the Cap'n, Cap'n!" she smiles hugging Mal round the middle quickly and running off.

Daniel watches her go, Mal looks uneasy at her disappearance. Daniel leans towards Mal.

"Bright one you got there Captain Reynolds." he says quietly, he continues to watch Kaylee hurry towards the engine room "And pretty too." he adds under his breath.

Mal gives him a cold sidelong look. Daniel takes a sharp intake of breath and leads them on. As the crew rounds the corner, Kaylee's voice catches up with them.

"Well ain't you in a pickle?"

The group finally enter the board room, a large dimly lit room. There are several mismatched chairs curved round in a semicircle, pointing towards a small plinth. Daniel waves the crew into the room. Rem enters last and she throws her father an embarrassed look. Daniel pats Mal on the shoulder and gives him another little bow.

"If you and yours would like to make yourself comfy, we'll be with you in a moment." he gives Mal another obnoxious bow and hurries off through a second smaller side door.

Rem lingers at the main door in the shadows, she looks sullen and doesn't make eye contact with any of the crew as they look around. The walls are plastered with old Independence propaganda from the war. There are small artefacts behind glass displays set flush into the wall. The largest artefact, bar the large Independence flag on the ceiling, is a map of Serenity Valley placed in prime position behind the plinth. Mal walks slowly and reverently up to it and runs his hand over it while the other seat themselves. The map crackles as Mal runs his hand over it. Zoe glances over to him concerned by his silence.

"Sir, are you okay?" she asks sitting forward in her seat.

Mal turns to her for a second and then turns back to the map.

"Yeah… I'm shiny." he replies in a small, distant voice.

He runs his hand over the map again, like he feel the contours of the Valley under his fingertips. He closes his eyes and turns away, seating himself in an empty seat next to Zoe. She looks at him concerned by his silence, Mal doesn't meet his eyes.

"Sir are you sure you're okay," she asks, but Mal continues to stare at his hands "Mal? Malcolm?"

Mal look up at her at last his eyes a little out of focus, he's looking at a point somewhere above her head.

"I'm fine Zoe, I'm… I'm fine." he assures her in his far away voice.

The small second door opens again and Daniel strides through, followed by a tall willowy woman with long golden blonde hair, tied up into an elaborate knot atop her head. She wears a tight cream coloured dress threaded with gold. A circlet of gold twists around her head giving her a medieval look. Behind her a short balding man in Independence Military regalia. He can barely keep up with the willowy woman as she practically glides across the room, the contrast between the two is almost comical. They stand facing the crew, hiding the map of Serenity Valley from view.

"Captain Reynolds, I'd like you to meet Naomi Zindi and General Peter Logan." Daniel gives the two new comers a small smile.

Naomi moves forward and nods to Mal, who looks at her blankly.

"A pleasure and an honour. I believe that you were a soldier for the Independence, Captain Reynolds?" she asks in a quiet almost mournful voice.

Mal doesn't reply and just continues to stare at her blankly. Naomi and the General glance at each other out of the corner of their eyes, doubtful of how to continue.

"Well, Captain Reynolds, we're here to give you the co-ordinates for the drop point." Daniel says smiling in Mal's direction.

Mal stirs, he looks sullen and irritated by Daniel's cheeriness.

"It takes three of you to tell us the drop point?" he asks snappily.

Daniel licks his lips nervously, a bead of sweat runs down his plump pink cheek. He carefully replies to the comment.

"Well to tell you the truth you're quite the legend, Captain Reynolds. After all you and your First Mate are two of the only survivors of the Battle of Serenity Valley." he licks his lips nervously again.

Mal flinches and looks down at his feet. The General moves forward to speak this time. "Your presence here is-"

"I'm just doing my job," Mal says rising his voice over the General, "I'm here to get the drop co-ordinates and leave. That's all. I don't want to reminisce about the old days." Mal gets to his feet.

"That's all well and good, Captain Reynolds," the General attempts to start again "But I'm-"

"You were a General in the war right?" Mal suddenly asks cutting him of again.

"That's correct." the General replies cautiously.

"A big old General in that war we failed to win. Tell me did you ever see the front line, General?" Mal retorts anger building up inside him.  
The General flounders for a second.

"Well, ah… no I didn't… I didn't. I wasn't stationed-"

"Then you have no idea what its like. You sit in here with all the old propaganda and the dusty relics, hanging maps of the old battle grounds on the walls like trophies, and you haven't the slightest clue of what its like to be stood there," Mal gets to his feet and his eyes swivel to the map, "Having to use your dead friends as cover. Pining your last hope on one thing that gets snatched away from you at the last moment… when all it would have taken was one gorramn air strike." he shakes his head as his voice trails off into silence and, without another word, he walks out into a troubled look on his face.

Zoe, who was sat completely still during Mal's tirade, keeps looking down at her hands. A heavy silence fills the room. Wash puts a comforting hand on Zoe's shoulder and she takes a deep calming breath and stands up. Rem slips out of the room silently behind her without a sound.

"We would like the co-ordinates of the drop." Zoe asks coldly.


	5. Chapter 4

Mal strides along a small grimy corridor with sloped walls. He is well and truly lost in the bowels of The Horizon and he is far from his crew. He slows down and lets out a long breath through his nose. He grinds to a halt and sits on a thin ledge jutting out from the lower part of the wall. He holds his hands out in front of him and stares at them as if it's the first time he's ever seen them. They're shaking violently and there are little half moon indentations in his palms where his short nails have dug into the flesh. He lets out another puff of breath through his nose and lets his head fall slowly into his hands. He looks dishevelled and broken.

Around the corner, River peers at him with one eye hidden behind the wall. She assesses the situation and slowly walks towards his moving slowly round the corner, her bare feet making a small scuffing sound on the floor. Mal doesn't look up as she stops, standing next to him.

"What happened to make you so hollow?" she asks.

Mal doesn't look up at her. River purses her lip and then sits next to him on the ledge, tucking her knees up to her chin. She places a pale hands delicately on the back of his head. Mal begins to shake slightly, still angry at the confrontation with the General.

"It ended there, you stopped being you. And then every member of the crew became you."

Mal shakes more.

"We're everything you aren't anymore. That's why you're scared to lose them, like you were scared to loose Inara." River pauses and puts her head on his shoulder, sliding her hand off his head around his shoulder, holding him like a mother would a small child.

Mal's shoulders drop as she cradles him. River stared at her toes, wiggling them.

"You won't miss me though…" she looks neither sad nor happy as he says this, as if she's already accepted it as fact.

Mal raises his head out of his hands and looks at River. His eyes are watery but there are no signs of tears. His face is still hardened and angry. He looks at River closely for a second. All of the fight has gone out of him and his face softens. He looks like he's about to say something, but he closes his mouth and sighs. River looks up at him, pulling her gaze away from her toes that she deems no longer interesting. Mal looks at her softly as he would Kaylee.

"_Mei mei_," he says softly, "I would miss you if the crew is me you're my sane side."

"I'm your chef…" River smiles.

She giggles and Mal cracks a smile. She rubs his shoulder warmly and he sits up a little straighter as she removes her arm.

"You know sometimes you make perfect sense to me, little one." he look her in the eye. River leans forward, unblinkingly, suddenly deadly serious.

"Maybe I'm your conscious." she says quietly.

Mal studies her for a second, taking in this comment. He blinks, looking away from her wide eyes. He gets to his feet, standing tall again like the conversation never happened. He stretches out, suddenly business like and most definitely, nothing more or less than the Captain. River is still in the same position, but her eyes are still on Mal.

"Come on little one, lets go get Kaylee and get off this junker." he says holding his hand out to River.

She considers it for a second and then takes it, holding onto it like a child would as she gets to her feet. They walk down the corridor hand in hand, River leading the way.

Kaylee is stood precariously on the edge of a deep bowl where The Horizons engine is set, rotating noisily. She is already covered in grease and there is a large smudge of in across her forehead where she wiped the sweat away with the back of her hand. She is struggling to reach a fuse box through a maintenance panel. She pulls a dead fuse cell from the box and places a new one into the clip . It sparks making her jump. She looses her footing for a second and totters on the edge of the bowl, then falls backwards with a startled cry. She screws her eyes up for impact with the engine room floor and…nothing. Mal catches her before she hit's the ground. Kaylee slowly opens one eye and looks up at him beaming.

"Captain Tightpants, you're my hero!" she throws her arms around his neck and hugs him tightly.

"Can I put you down now?" he asks, his voice muffled by Kaylee's arm.

He drops her legs and she rights herself.

"Now don't you put yourself in a bind like that again when there's no one round, 'cause I'm not cleaning blood outta my engine anytime soon, _dong ma?_" he lectures, Kaylee rolls her eyes as he talks.

"Yes Cap'n." she mutters.

River stares at the two of them from by the door.

"Innocence." she mutters focusing on Kaylee.

Her voice is inaudible over the sound of the engine and Mal and Kaylee's conversation. River smiles to herself.

Simon bursts into the engine room, red faced and sweaty. He's breathing heavily like he's just completed a marathon. In his hurry he doesn't notice River stood by the door in the dim light. He begins to talk very quickly in a panicked voice.

"I can't find River, she isn't on Serenity and I've looked all over this ship. I think that-" Mal holds up a hand to silence him, then points to River.

Simon lets out a gasp of breath and relief washes over his face.

"She found me." Mal smiles.

But Simon doesn't hear his comment, he's too busy making sure she's okay.

"Please don't disappear like that, you frightened me! I thought you were walking around lost!" he moves towards her and begins to sweep her out of the door.

She throws Mal a knowing smile and allows herself to be swept out of the room by a flustered Simon, who mops his brow with a neatly folded handkerchief.

Mal and Kaylee watch them leave and then Kaylee turns to Mal.

"You 'kay Cap'n? I heard shoutin' before." she asks concerned.

"Everything's Shiny, just a disagreement with the locals, that's all." he looks around the engine room "You jus' 'bout done here?"

"Yeah I just need to…" she looks round and grabs an old broom from a corner.

She pokes it through the maintenance hatch and into the fuse box. She jabs at the fuse cell that sparked and it clicks into place. There's a blue spark and the engine suddenly sounds a lot smoother, even the lights brighten a little.

"All done here Cap'n! Just a bitty fuse!" Kaylee states brightly.

"Good lets get off this relic and get moving. I'm getting mighty itchy 'bout staying any longer." he holds his hand out for Kaylee to leave first.

Wash is sat on the bridge of Serenity. He flicks three switches and the lights flare into life, not that it makes much difference in a room full of brightly glowing buttons. The Wave monitor sparks into life and Wash patches it through. A face swims into focus through the static. Its Daniel.

"Washburne, you better look after my Remmie, or heads will roll." he gives Wash a serious glare.

"Will do Mr L. We cleared?" Wash replies, flicking switches.

Daniel looks down at a readout and glances back at Wash.

"Serenity you are cleared for disengagement," he pauses and smiles pleasantly. "Be safe."

Wash nods thanks and shuts the Wave off.

"Thanks Mr L," he mutters under his breath, "Anchors away!" he adds loudly.

He hit's the comm and clears his throat loudly. His voice echoes around the ship.

"Is everyone aboard?" he asks cheerfully.

"We're good to go, sweetie." Zoe replies over the comm.

Wash smiles and flicks a final three switches and pulls the controls down and backwards.

The two arms holding Serenity in place retract and she pulls away backwards from The Horizon. Her engines twist 180 degrees and she curves around, looping back under the larger ship, back towards Greenleaf. As she pulls away and gears up for Full Burn, The Horizon once more powers down, for a second, two lights illuminate her name and then they too fade out.

The cargo bay is quiet at empty, except for a very lonely looking Rem, perched at the top of the stairs near the entrance to shuttle one. She's staring off into space. Zoe walks behind her on the way to the bridge and Rem turns.

"Oh Zoe, I was hoping to run into the Captain." Rem says, she turns away.

Zoe pauses to think and then sits down next to Rem.

"Recon he'll be in his bunk. I'd give him some time if I were you." Zoe says studying Rem.

"Oh… its just… I wanted to apologize for what happened. I… I thought that… I didn't realise that Captain Reynolds was so…" Rem stops, casting around for a word or phrase that would fit.

"Mal is… complicated," Zoe says quietly "For him the war will never truly be over."

"And you?" Rem asks tilting her head slightly.

Zoe doesn't reply.

"I understand though," Rem continues "What he meant, I mean. My father was never in the war, he missed his chance to fight for the Independence. After my momma died, he was left to bring me up on his own, so he never saw action. Recon that's what made him help those prisoners, I think he though he owed them. But, I guess that's why he collects all that _fei-oo_. It's a way of being a part I suppose, waste of gorramn time if you ask me. Even now he's trying to fight the good fight against the Alliance tyranny on that old crate of his."

There's a silence between the two of them as Rem stops and looks down at her feet. Zoe looks at Rem for a minute and then gets to her feet.

"In the end that's all that Mal and I got. A fight, one we don't often win." Zoe says quietly, Rem looks up at her.

"It's the act of fighting that system that keeps you both alive, gives you a purpose in life. You don't seem to me like the kind of folks who'll ever slow down." Rem says quietly smiling up at Zoe.

Zoe sighs and leans on the handrail.

"One day, we'll settle down. As for Mal, I recon no one ain't ever gonna take the sky from that man."


	6. Chapter 5

A large holographic map is floating above the table in the dining room of Serenity. The crew is seated around the it looking closely at the map that almost fills the whole table top. Jayne is peering closely at it cradling a cup of coffee in his hands. Mal and Rem are stood at opposite ends of the table, both have their eyes on the map. Rem leans forward on the table and clears her throat ready to speak to the assembled crew.

"Its pretty simple, the Alliance Soldiers are rotated every two hours during the day and every four at night. There is a break of half an hour between the change over. In that time we break in and secure the goods. They're stored in an old hanger, twenty four miles west of the Alliance base and thirty seven miles north west from the hospital," three red buildings rise up from the holo-map "We wait for two hours 'til shift change under cover of darkness. During this time we block the in road six miles away with Shuttle One. Kaylee, posing as a Companion, will hail the Alliance patrol and inform them she had engine problems on re-entry. Of course Kaylee will have done some of her magical mechanics and disable the shuttle. Any red blooded male wouldn't say no to helping a beautiful companion in the hopes of her service as thanks. While they're stuck there, Wash will hover over the hanger," on the map a miniature Serenity hovers into place "You guys open it up and hoist the goods away. The Alliance repairs Kaylee's shuttle and she rejoins us back at The Horizon where we'll lay low for a few days then continue on to the drop point once things have died down a little." she stops talking and sighs waiting for the crew to start asking questions.

Jayne is still staring in wonder at the holo-map as the program sequence begins to run again. Mal is silent for a moment, then shifts his weight from one leg to the other and folds his arms.

"What if the Alliance follows us, or captures Kaylee?" he asks looking up from the map.

"I checked the Cortex, no ships able to break atmo, so Kaylee could get away and the nearest Alliance cruiser is, or at least, will be two days away from Greenleaf. Its fool proof Captain." Rem folds her arms too, waiting for the Captains next question.

"You know what they say about fool proof plans," Mal says, throwing a glance at Jayne "You keep fools away from them."

"So who will be stationed where?" Zoe asks looking up from the map at last.

Rem licks her lips and settles into the chair behind her, drawing it closer to the table.

"I suggest that you, Mal and Jayne go for the goods, naturally. Kaylee will go on her own as Companion. Wash, Simon, River and I will stay on Serenity. I need to be in contact with The Horizon and we can't risk River and Simon down there with the Feds." she throws a look at Mal who is looking back at the map.

He takes a deep breath and straightens up.

"It's a good plan." he admits giving Rem a small smile.

He begins to walk around the table, looking at the map from a different angle, he pours himself another cup of coffee.

"So when do we pull the job?" he asks leaning on the counter, coffee in hand.

"A day from when we land on Greenleaf," Rem replies picking her own coffee mug up off the table, "The Alliance ship will be well out of the way by then and it'll give us more than enough time to get ready for the job."

"Can't argue with that." Mal nods taking a gulp of coffee and returning his eyes to the map as it runs the sequence once again.

Zoe sighs and leans back in her seat. She looks displeased. Next to her, Wash tries to hide his excitement at the chance of a day off work. Zoe leans forward again and looks at Mal stood opposite her.

"Sir, don't you think that it may be too long to wait? A days sittin' here doing nothing? The phrase 'sitting ducks' come to mind."

Wash stares at her aghast at the comment. He looks like she's just spoilt Christmas. Mal ignores Wash's pleading look and speaks directly to Zoe.

"Don't often get so long to do a job. Be a nice break from the mad scramble we normally have." Mal looks away from her and into the depths of his coffee.

Wash sighs then slams his hands on the table in front of him making the map crackle with static.

"Well I think it's a good plan!" he says enthusiastically.

Everyone turns to him, Zoe folds her arms and raises her eyebrows at him. Wash looks guiltily back at her.

"What," he shrugs "Big pay out, time off, what more could we ask for?"

Wash looks at Zoe steadily, she sighs, studying him for a second. She looks back at Mal.

"It's a good plan, Sir." Wash gives her a rub on the arm, beaming.

Mal stops leaning on the counter and claps his hands together.

"Good, Wash get us back to Greenleaf as fast as you like." he smiles at his crew.

Around him they begin to break away from the table. Rem watches them go for a second and then gets up herself, leaving Mal to pour himself another coffee. As she leaves the dining room the map on the table disappears. Mal watches her go out of the corner of his eye, hovering on the edge of the room for a second then he follows her to the passenger room set aside for her.

Rem sits down on her bed and takes her boots off. She stretches out, and wiggles her toes. Outside, hidden from her view, Mal shakes his head and turns to leave.

"I know you're there Captain." Rem says loudly.

Mal backtracks and stands at the door looking guilty.

"I was just, uh…" he trails off and looks shiftily at Rem.

"Checking up on me," Rem raises her eyebrows and crosses her legs "Is there a problem, Captain?" her tone is icy cold.

Mal doesn't like this change of tone and he looks at her wearily. His tone becomes very brusque.

"No, no problem as such. Just, ah…" he leans on the frame of the door "Why don't you buy the protein your own self?"

Rem sighs and studies Mal's face for a second, taking him in and thinking carefully.

"Several reasons," she answers quietly "Quantity that big I'd need to tell them where it was headed, who it was for. Questions I don't need askin'. And I have a score to settle with the Alliance. No amount of money can make it as satisfying as stealing it from right under their noses. I want revenge, and I want it first hand."

She looks sour as she says this, all the time looking at her toes. She looks at Mal about to say something, then shuts her mouth and drops her gaze. She sighs and continues quietly.

"They took things away, threatened me and shot my ship down, nearly killing me." she bites her lips.

"Alliance wronged you, you want revenge. Seems like we have similar motives of being in this business." Mal replies.

"This job is the mot honourable thieving I've done. Your reason is much more honourable than mine anyway." Rem smirks a faint smile on her lips.

"Oh, not so honourable. Thievery isn't associated with honour." Mal smiles, Rem laughs looking closely at him.

"Yes, but you have a good heart Captain Reynolds and that's all that counts to me in this 'Verse." Rem says, giving Mal a small smile.

Mal laughs loudly and shakes his head in disbelief.

"Good heart? You actually listen to anything my crew says? No, I'm just a happy man with a normal, average heart," he begins to walk away down the hall, "And call me Mal!" he yells back.

Rem looks down at her feet, wiggling her toes.

"Mal…" she mutters.

She sighs and closes her eyes, she lets her head fall backwards and it hit's the wall behind her with a soft thud.

For once it isn't Wash sat in the pilots seat, but Mal, his hands lazily on the switches of the Wave monitor. Wash is stood on Mal's usual spot, leaning on the back of the pilots seat. Mal is talking to a pale faced man with gaunt features on the Wave. The man looks sceptical as Mal speaks.

"I'll make it worth your while to keep us off your records and under the Alliance radar. Let us land without a log entry and I'll double what you earn in a week." Mal gives the man a friendly smile.

"Very well Captain Harbatkin, the logs will be erased and modified. So far as the Alliance know, The Happy Trader never broke atmo." the man gives Mal a steely gaze.

The Wave crackles into static. Mal vacates the pilot seat, pleased at his accomplishment. Wash sits back down again. He shuffles in his seat for a second looking irritated at something. He re-adjusts the seat with a loud sigh.

"Just got it ruttin' comfy." he mutters pulling at the back of the pilot seat.

Mal gives him a dark look, but Wash doesn't see him, he's too busy fiddling with switches and dials.

"And always with the setting changes." he mumbles.

He finally catches Mal's look which is somewhat harder than before. The ship shudders suddenly, Wash and Mal both look at the console confused.

"Thought that was a brand new dampener Kaylee fitted?" Mal asks utterly confused.

"She did… takes a few atmo breaks to… well break them in. Maybe a few bumpy landings for a while," the ship drops a few feet very quickly "Whoa! Ho, ho… yes, definitely need some breaking in. Like a new pair of shoes!" Wash says holding on tightly to the controls.

He looks up at Mal, pulls his shoulders up and smiles sweetly at him. He looks like a complete idiot.

"That's _swai_." Mal smirks.

"You askin' me out on a date Mal?" Wash replies cheekily winking at Mal.

Around the corner, hidden from the sight of the two men, River stands playing with the ends of her hair. She is listening intently at their conversation.

"Wit in measure is a mans greatest pleasure." she mutters to herself.

She hears Mal walking towards her and she steps out gracefully in front of him. Mal jumps as she does so.

"Whoa! _Wuh de tyen!_ Don't you ever make any kind of noise," he asks demandingly, but River just smiles "Whats the matter?" he sighs.

River smiles brightly at him and leans towards him in a half bow, her hands clasped behind her back.

"I want to help you." she replies bluntly.

Mal gives her a funny look and begins to walk off towards the dining room at a brusque pace. River keeps up effortlessly.

"Can stay outta the way." Mal says, short tempered.

River rolls her eyes in dismay.

"I mean the job, dummy. I want to help you with the job." she sighs sticking her tongue out.

Mal stops dead in his tracks and turns to her. Disbelief is etched all over his face.

"Whoa, no! Didn't you hear Rem? Thirty Alliance troops little one! Its no tea party." Mal splutters trying to find as many excuses as possible.

"I envisage problems with your fool proof plan." River says lightly.

She runs her hand around the door frame not looking at Mal, but through him. She is silent like this for a moment her lips moving, working something out. Mal watches her, her eyes settling on her silent, quick moving lips.

"Possible risk of capture," she pauses "Kaylee shouldn't go on her own."

River looks back up at Mal. He raises his eyebrows at the comment and folds his arms.

"And how exactly do you intend to hide from the feds?" he asks, thinking he's picked a hole in her logic.

River brings her arm up to her face, the tattered sleeve of her pink jumper hangs down, covering her mouth and nose.

"Trainee companion. I won't have to show my face." she replies, dropping her arm down and looking a little smug.

Mal sighs and looks her up and down, shocked at her perfect logic.

"What will your dear brother say?" he asks.

Behind him, Simon appears quietly. He clears his throat a little nervously.

"It was my idea."


	7. Chapter 6

Wash, Kaylee and River are stood in the small cockpit of Serenity's Shuttle One, looking around at their handiwork. The shuttle has been decorated with rich coloured silks hanging from the ceiling and walls, in the small space it looks very grand. There is a bed in the center of the space, a focal point as the place that a companion does most of her work. Its like Inara never left Serenity. Was puts his hands on his hips and shakes his head.

"Well that was the girliest thing I've ever done." he comments, trying to make himself look more manly by flexing his semi muscular arms.

Kaylee smirks as she watches him.

"If you're lucky we might paint your toenails later." she says, sticking her tongue out at him.

Wash playfully hits her on the shoulder and she slaps him back across the arm. Mal enters the shuttle and Wash looks up at him.

"Hey, Mal, d'you see that? Assault in the workplace! I'd like to place a formal complaint!" Wash yells laughing.

Kaylee goes to hit him again and he dodges out of the way, tripping over an ornate chest, obviously one Inara left behind. Mal watches the two of them, looking distant and sad. He looks round the shuttle slowly. Kaylee looks over at him, concerned by his silence.

"You okay Cap'n?" she asks holding onto Wash's arm.

Mal looks up at her and smiles.

"I'm shiny little Kaylee! Done a good job." he smiles at her, but the smile doesn't reach his eyes.

Kaylee looks pleased at his comment.

"Had some good help." she smiles hugging Wash.

Wash gives Mal a dismissive shrug.

"Rem has offered to cook us an evening meal. You want feedin' then I'd get there before Jayne." Mal informs them, leaning on the door frame.

"And I need my manicure." Wash adds getting a laugh from Kaylee and a small smile from River.

Wash and Kaylee leave and River trails after them. She throws Mal a meaningful look, but he doesn't meet her eyes. Mal looks around the shuttle again. He sits down on the bed.

_Inara is knelt at her table. She is practicing calligraphy, however her brush is abandoned and she is staring intently at the paper before her. Mal is stood in the doorway, looking awkwardly at Inara. _

_"Its funny Captain," Inara looks up at Mal "I was just thinking of you before you arrived." she smiles._

_"You were?" Mal raises his eyebrows. _

_Inara points at the pile of screwed up paper on the floor. Mal looks both confused and a little hurt at her comment. _

_"You saw some garbage and was thinking' of me?" he asks. _

_Inara rolls her eyes and shakes her head. _

_"No, Captain. Calligraphy. Its so difficult to get it just right. Yet even when its wrong in some small way, its still a work of art. Sometimes the flaws make it more beautiful, unique." she smiles at Mal who looks back at hr vacantly, he's completely missed the point she was trying to make. _

_"You planning' to leave that mess behind when you get off my boat?" he comments. _

_Inara grimaces to herself. The comment she made went straight over his head, like most of the things she says to him. _

_"Yes." she replies coldly._

_"Yes your gonna leave a mess?" Mal smirks._

Mal sighs and shakes his head, as if trying to get rid of the memories. He lets himself fall backwards onto the bed, looks up at the ceiling and closes his eyes.

_Mal walks into Inara's shuttle, the ship beneath him is bucking and shuddering in distress. He fails to keep his balance and tumbles onto Inara's bed. Inara stops straightening her things that have been sent into disarray by the lurching movements of the ship. Mal looks up at the ceiling still lying on Inara's bed. _

_"Never thought I'd get a chance to stare into this ceiling!" he comments cheekily. _

_Inara throws him an offended look. _

_"Mal!" she says sharply. _

_As she says this Mal props himself up on the bed. _

_"What? Ain't I fetchin'," he gives Inara a winning smile "internal dampener is on the fritz again." he rolls off the bed and gets to his feet. _

_He cautiously moves over to the cockpit, slumping into the pilots chair. _

_"I'm going to have to borrow my shuttle. If that okay wit you? Me usin' my own shuttle?" he asks, not really expecting Inara to say anything. _

_Inara looks coldly at him._

_"There's no need to keep reminding me." she replies icily._

Mal sighs again and rolls off the bed, intending to leave the shuttle. But as he reaches the doorway he pauses and looks back at the empty shuttle. It glitter like a jewellery box. He closes his eyes again and drops his head down. He looks sad and lonely surrounded by these beautiful items.

_Mal flicks switches and checks gauges, prepping the shuttle for take off. Speed is of the essence. Inara watches him in silence, her face sad as she watches him hurry._

_"Keep everything set as low as possible. Don't waste what you got." he pauses in his actions and looks confused at the mass of switches. _

_Inara strides forward and takes over, gently pushing Mal out of her way. He lets her take over and watches her as she sits in the pilot seat. She looks back up at him as she completes her actions. There is so much left unsaid between them. Inara looks like she's going to say something, but Mal cuts her off. _

_"And try not to talk. Talking uses up air, there ain't no need for it." he goes to leave and Inara stops him. "Mal…come with us." she pleads desperately._

_"Can't," he looks deeply into her eyes "Four to a shuttle, Inara. Four."_

_"One more person," Inara begs "You know it can't make a difference. Not now."_

_"I'm not leaving Serenity." Mal replies in defiance. _

_Inara exhales looking at him. Stubborn bastard. _

_"Mal- you don't have to die alone." Inara replies quietly. _

_There's a short silence between them and Mal looks away. _

_"Everybody dies alone." he says matter-of-factly. _

_He looks back up at Inara and they hold onto each other gaze, looks saying more than words ever could._

Mal seems to shiver as if he feels the chill from the memory. He looks down at the drape hanging next to him, looking carefully at the woven gold thread that decorates the hem.

_Mal approaches the shuttle door and knocks loudly._

_"Inara?" he yells, agitated. _

_There's a few seconds between his yell and the door opening. Inara is stood on the other side. _

_"Mal?" she asks looking at him carefully. _

_The ship lurches under their feet and Inara begins to fall. Mal catches her and moves into the shuttle. They look deeply onto each others eyes. They stand just inside the doorway, the ship rolls beneath them. They hold each other in their arms closely. _

_"Inara, I…" Mal starts, but he trails off. They continue to look into each others eyes, hardly noticing the ship shaking beneath them. _

_"Mal, I-" Inara starts_

_"Inara…" Mal sighs cutting across her. _

_The ship suddenly levels off and the shaking stops. Inara finally breaks eye contact with Mal. "I got a Wave from the Guild, Mal they found a new home for me. I need you to make it our next stop."_

Mal stands sadly at the door, his hand running down a soft silk drape as if it holds onto some remnant of Inara. Zoe walks up the steps to the shuttle and stands next to Mal.

"Sir, man needs payin' at the door." she says softly.

Mal turns to her and gives her an overly cheery smile.

"Best get to it then huh?" he replies walking down the steps past Zoe.

Zoe watches him go. She sighs and quietly closes the shuttle doors. With a last look at Mal, who is paying the pale faced man with a roll of cash, she makes her way back to the dining room.

**All of the flashbacks in this chapter are from pre-existing work from the wonderful people at Virtual Firefly. There is also a scene directly from the episode Out of Gas, if you haven't watched that episode in a while I suggest you rewatch it. By far the best episode of a television show ever!**


	8. Chapter 7

The crew are sat around the dining table, which is laden with bowls of vegetables and a large roast joint. Alongside this feast is the usual protein which, unsurprisingly hasn't been touched. Everyone is eating enthusiastically and laughing at each others jokes and stories. There are two empty seats at the table. Kaylee notices this and looks puzzled.

"Where are Wash and Zoe?" she asks looking round.

Everyone turns to her and the table goes quiet. She raises her eyebrows and puts her hands over her mouth as the penny drops. The table erupts with laughter. Simon looks at her as he laughs and when she smiles back at him and winks, he begins to choke on his mouthful of food. Jayne thumps him hard on the back and Simon stops choking.

"Thanks!" he says hoarsely.

"No problem, jus' wanted you to git me the gorramn carrots before you passed out." Jayne replies pushing food round his plate to make space for the carrots.

"Your manners are, as ever, impeccable." Simon says sarcastically.

He passes Jayne the bowl of carrots and rolls his eyes as Jayne piles them up on his already overflowing plate. Down the other end of the table Mal and Rem are sat opposite each other.

"Gorramn this is good. Thought I'd never have a square as good at this again." Mal says smiling cheerfully.

He shovels another slice of meat into his mouth with his chopsticks.

"Glad you like it." Rem replies smiling.

She plays with the food on her plate, its barely been touched. Mal nods not noticing the unhappy look on Rem's face and her full plate. River watches her prod at the food and she looks up at Rem who looks shocked at River's attentive glare.

"'Scuse us!" Kaylee says getting up.

She gives River a meaningful look and the two of them head towards Kaylee's bunk. Simon looks after them, looking like a lost puppy. Jayne leers at them as they go. Simon turns to him and gives him a disgusted look.

"Do you mind, that's my sister you're leering at." he comments.

The two glare at each other. Simon drops his gaze back down to his plate of food and Jayne continues to eat messily. Rem looks over at Simon carefully, studying him closely. He keeps throwing expectant looks at the door, waiting for his sister and Kaylee to return.

"Is there something going on between you and Kaylee?" she asks.

Simons looks up sharply at her and his eyebrows shoot up. He looks at her startled and points at himself. Rem nod. Mal and Jayne share a look and both look at Simon. He chews his mouthful of food for longer than it should take and swallows it with difficulty. He splutters and gestures but doesn't actually say anything. Rem looks down at her plate and smiles to herself.

"Forget I said anything." she says laughing.

Jayne cackles loudly and Simon hides his red face behind his glass of wine.

There is a small clearing of the throat from towards the bridge and everyone turns. Framed in the door is River. She is wearing the blue sari that Kaylee bought from Rem's shop. Her hair is tied back and up into a tight knot. Her eyes are outlined by a pale blue shimmer and she wears a thick blue vale over the lower part of her face, making her eyes look all the more stunning. She delicately walks down the stares, her feet still bare.

"Announcing the arrival of Miss Kaywinnet Lee Frye, Registered Companion." she says in a clear voice her eyes scrunched up in a smile.

Kaylee appears at the doorway. She's wearing a tight red dress with a delicate golden pattern. Over the top of the dress she wears a floaty red shrug that drags along the floor as she walks. In her hand is he red umbrella decorated with cherry blossom. Her hair is pinned back and decorated on one side by a flowery hair clip. Her eyes are framed by a golden shimmer and her lips are painted a luscious red. All three men sat at the table look her up and down in unison. Their mouths are hanging open, catching flies.

"_Run-tze duh fwotzoo…_" Jayne mutters.

Mal blinks stupidly, his mouth hanging open still.

"Whoa…" he mumbles.

"I second that," Simon says not taking his eyes off her "Kaylee you look… amazing." he scrambles to his feet and hurries over to her.

He hold his hand up to her to help her down the stairs. Kaylee curtsies to him a little and takes his hand.

"Thank you very much, Doctor Tam, and may I say you're not looking too bad yourself tonight." Kaylee says smiling.

Simon looks shocked at the sound of Kaylee's quiet, slightly upper class accent. Kaylee twirls in a circle, letting everyone get a better view of the dress.

"Well what d'you think Cap'n," she asks Mal, dropping the false accent. "D'you think this is suitable for a companion?" she looks at Mal smiling as she stops twirling.

He opens his mouth to say something then blinks.

"I think… that…" he stammers not having a clue what to say.

Rem smirks at Mal's spluttering attempt at a compliment.

"I think what he's trying to say is you look wonderful." she says giving Kaylee a bright smile. Mal nods in agreement.

"Yeah, that." he says in agreement.

"And you think I got the accent right?" Kaylee asks looking at Simon.

"Spot on! You'd make a wonderful companion," he realizes what he said and backtracks "I mean… uh, it's, uh… heh… I-"

Kaylee cuts him off.

"Thank you! D'you really think so?" she smiles kissing him on the cheek leaving a red lip stick mark.

Everyone laughs as Simon blushes. River looks expectantly at Jayne, waiting for him to be a gentleman and take her hand. Jayne looks behind him stupidly and finally gets it. He wipes his hands on his shirt and rubs his mouth with his arm. River takes the veil off and smiles at him, giving him a goofy look. He gives her a little awkward bow and she copies Kaylee, who is stood linking arms with Simon. Jayne stands there looking uncomfortable and River frowns. She holds her finger up to Kaylee and dashes away pulling Jayne with her. He throws a Mal a 'help me' look, but Mal just smirks and watches them go. Simon looks puzzled by their disappearance and peers towards the crew bunks. There a cry from Jayne and a angry retort from River.

"Now how the gorramn hell do you know where I keep my good shirt?" Jayne yells.

"Its screwed up in a ball under your bed like everything else." River replies lightly.

There's another shocked cry from Jayne.

"Will you put those down?" he yells his voice a little high in embarrassment.

River giggles.

The two of them emerge, Jayne now in his smart black and white striped shirt. Its creased and unflatteringly tucked into his trousers. He roughly pulls at it and throws a begrudging look at River. She looks at him expectantly and he rolls his eyes and hold his arm out to her. The two of them walk back down the stairs and Kaylee claps her hands together.

"Oh! Don't you two look like the proper couple?" she says smiling brightly.

Simon and Jayne give each other a look. Kaylee struggles with the little bag she has over her arm and pulls out her capture. She holds it up and smiles brightly.

"Lets get a photo!" she says holding the camera out to Mal.

Mal gets up and takes it from her.

"You should be in it too." River says as her begins to twist the dial to picture.

"I haven't got me a pretty woman to stand with." he replies looking up at her.

Everyone looks towards Rem who sits up in her seat.

"Oh no," she waves her hands "No this is your moment, your crew… thing. I'll just take the photo." she holds her hands out to receive the capture but Mal doesn't hand it over.

Instead he pulls her up to the group. She shakes her head and tries to sit down again.

"My boat, my rules, get up there." Mal says, blatantly playing the Captain card.

Everyone whoops as Rem rolls her eyes and joins them. Mal sets the capture on the table and dashes to Rem holding out his arm. She reluctantly takes it. The crew smile, waiting for the flash. Mal leans towards Jayne a little.

"So what was it she found?" he whispers.

Jayne reddens and grits his teeth.

"None of your ruttin' business." he growls.

They both smile again and the capture flashes.

Wash and Zoe's bunk is filled with a dim light. A small table is in the corner where the last of their dinner sits, a small chocolate cake lies half eaten still in it wrapping. Wash and Zoe are cuddled up in bed, wrapped in the covers. Wash strokes back Zoe's hair and kisses her gently on the cheek.

"Thanks for a wonderful Anniversary, sweetie." he whispers into her ear gently.

"Not a problem honey," she rolls onto her back "Damn that was a good meal."

"Yeah," Was sighs in contentment "I forgot how good Rem's cooking was."

Zoe turns to him and gives him a cold look. Wash raises his eyebrows and looks stunned.

"Wait, no, now hang on!" he says, surprised. Zoe shakes her head dismissively.

"Its fine. I know you two have history." she says quietly.

Wash looks at her, silent for a second.

"Whats that supposed to mean?" he asks coldly.

"Nothing honey." Zoe replies rolling her eyes.

Wash sighs angrily and gets up, pulling his clothes on. Zoe props herself up on her elbows.

"Where are you going?" she asks.

"Just need to do some checks before tomorrow." Wash replies not looking at Zoe.

She watches him leave and groans, falling back onto her pillow.


	9. Chapter 8

The bridge of Serenity is silent. Through the windows the stars shimmer through a misty haze. Buttons and lights on the control panel flash and glow, making the bridge look like the sky outside. Wash is sat in the pilot seat, his hand is resting lazily on the yolk, hanging limply. He's leaning forward a little, fast asleep. Rem walks up behind him, looking at the starry night sky. She's wearing a thick dressing gown and her hair is messed up. She's obviously just woken up. She carries two mugs of coffee in her hands. She quietly puts one of the mugs down near the co-pilot seat, careful not to spill it on any of the buttons. She takes the other over to Wash, who she shakes gently. Wash wakes with a start, his hand slipping off the yolk. He looks up blearily at Rem who smiles warmly. She offers him the mug.

"I brought you coffee." she smiles.

Wash takes the mug off her and takes a small sip.

"Dash of milk, three sugars." she smiles.

Wash sits back in his seat contentedly. Rem seats herself in the co-pilots seat, drawing her knees up to her chest. Wash rubs his eye vigorously with the palm of his hand.

"What time is it?" he asks yawing widely.

"Half past four… I couldn't sleep." Rem says quietly.

They fall silent and Wash stares out of the window up at the stars. There's a long, poignant silence between them. It's a comfortable silence between two old friends. Rem looks over to Wash, her head resting on the back of the seat.

"You wanna get back out there already, huh? What are you running from anyway?" Rem asks.

Wash looks at her puzzled by her question.

"I'm not running from anything." he replies defensively.

The silence falls again. Its not as comfortable, but still pleasant. They sip their coffee quietly. Wash is the one who breaks the silence this time.

"So nervous about the job then?" he asks cheerily.

Rem's head snaps round and she stares at him wide eyed.

"Oh, tomorrow… I- I wasn't really thinking about it to be honest." she lies looking back out of the window.

She throws a shifty look at Wash to check if he's still looking at her, but his eyes have returned to the stars. Silence creeps up on them again, but this time there is a definite awkwardness between them.

"I'm sorry…" Rem mutters quietly.

"What for," Wash asks laughing "Nothin' to be sorry about." he smiles at her.

Rem smiles but doesn't join in with his laughter. She still doesn't look at him.

"Yeah…" she replies, her face is pained.

She gets up from her seat and smiles coldly.

"I should go… get some sleep… or something." She says quietly.

Wash nods and Rem leaves without another word. Wash sips his coffee and checks a read out on the scanner. River walks quietly up behind him and peers over his shoulder. Wash turns to check something else and comes face to face with her. He pulls back in shock.

"Everyone's trying to give me a heart attack." he says clutching his chest.

"You should be careful." River says quietly.

Wash gives her a funny look, half smiling, half very confused.

"Head injuries can be dangerous." she continues, unblinkingly serious.

She nods agreeing with herself. Wash gets up and stretches. River watches him and bites her lip.

"Shouldn't you be in bed?" Wash asks his brow furrowing in irritation.

"Shouldn't you?" River replies cheekily.

She doesn't smile, she just stands there looking deeply into his eyes. Wash smiles at her ruefully. There is absolutely no point trying to lie to a mind reading genius and her knows it.

"Yeah… yes I should." he replies putting his hands on his head, post-stretch.

River peers at him through slightly narrowed eyes.

"Bad luck… we're going to need a rabbits foot." she says quietly to herself, thinking out loud.

She skips off back to her room. Wash stares after her for a second and then follows. He descends into his bunk. Zoe is still awake.

"Hi, honey." he mutters.

Kaylee is sat in Shuttle One, she's already dressed in her companion outfit and she looks radiant in the afternoon sunlight. River is sat on the bed, she's already wearing the veil across her face. She's playing with a tassel on the corner of a cushion. Mal is stood over Kaylee, giving her some last minute flying lessons. Its painfully obvious that Kaylee is nervous and she's hanging onto Mal's every word as he explains which switches do what an when. Most she already knows, but has no idea what they could do in mid-flight.

"Whatever you do, while your in the air DON'T pull this," Mal puts his hand on a large leaver, "It retracts the wings, don't want you fallin' outta the sky."

Kaylee nods and rolls her eyes. He's told her not to touch the leaver a dozen times. Mal looks at the controls and smiles.

"That's 'bout it little Kaylee. No you be careful… don't want this thing crashin' or it comes outta your wage." he says patting her on the shoulder.

Kaylee nods looking even more nervous at the prospect of the end of the lesson. Wash's voice booms out of the comm into the shuttle, making Kaylee jump.

"Mal, we've got a big sandstorm coming in. Looks like things could get a bit… bumpy." he says, light heartedly.

River walks up behind Mal.

"Bad luck, I told you so. I couldn't find a rabbits foot." she mutters.

Mal throws her a 'shut-the-hell-up' look and hit's the comm to reply.

"What do you think? Put it off?" he asks, Kaylee brightens.

"People are dying, Mal," Rem replies "We do this now, or we don't do this at all."

Mal sighs and nods. He knew she'd say that, Kaylee sags a little looking disappointed.

"Okay, lets get this boat in the air, we've got an our 'til we drop in, people. Lets move like we gotta reason." he hit's the comm again and it falls silent.

The engines of Serenity start up with a dull hum. Mal goes to leave, but turns to give Kaylee a reassuring smile. She doesn't return it, rather, she looks like she's about to throw up. River catches Mal's eye and they share a look. Mal nods and River smiles.

Serenity lifts off from the landing pad. Dust and sand swirls around her once more, hiding her from view. Instead of heading straight up to break atmo, she heads towards the drop point, her engines twisting to propel her forward.


	10. Chapter 9

Mal, Jayne and Zoe stand near the hatch in the cargo bay floor. All three are wrapped in scarves and with goggles tightly over their eyes. They're laughing. Their voices sound strange through the layers they're wearing to keep the sand at bay. Mal adjusts the tinted goggles he's wearing.

"It will be… uh, best not to talk s'much when we get down there. Don't wanna give our position away." his voice sounds strange, heavily muffled by the big woolly scarf around his head.

Jayne laughs loudly. He's wearing his knitted hat and as he laughs the pompom on top jiggles vigorously.

"You p'rolly sound the most hi-larious outta the lot of us, Mal." he says pulling his scarf tighter.

Zoe opens the hatch doors and yells over the sound of the wind.

"This sandstorm's good for us, means we got cover to sneak in and out." she yells to Mal who is still adjusting his goggles.

He nods in agreement.

Serenity drops down and, out of the swirl of orange dust a gray roof appears. Zoe points to Mal to go first. He hesitates on the edge a second, takes a deep breath and drops down, his coat billowing out around him. Zoe follows and Jayne goes last, tying his hat firmly under his chin as he goes.

Jayne lands with a loud thud on the roof. The three of them look up to see Serenity disappearing into the sandstorm, its hatch closing as it pulls up. Mal beckons Zoe and Jayne towards the hangers roof top access hatch. Mal pulls at it, but it doesn't shift. The rusty hinges hold it firmly in place. Jayne rolls his eyes and strides forward. He yanks the hatch door hard, the rusted hinges fail and the whole hatch opens up. Zoe drops down first onto the gangway below. Jayne follows, pushing Mal out of the way. Mal collects himself and then drops through. On the gangway the three of them get their bearings. Jayne goes to take his hat off but Zoe grabs his hand.

"No point, Jayne. You'll just have to put it all back on again when we leave…and we might be leavin' in a hurry." Zoe says getting a disgruntles look from Jayne.

"But I'm sweating like a _hwun dun_ in all this." he moans.

Zoe raises her eyebrows behind her goggles. Jayne sighs.

"Ah, all right." he replies reluctantly tying his hat under his chin again.

Mal, Jayne and Zoe trudge down the gang way and look down. The whole hanger is packed with large boxes all stamped with the Alliance symbol. Jayne gives a muffles whistle, shocked at the quantity of supplies before them. There is more than enough to feed the outer ring for several years. Mal leads them towards an open lift. They get on and he punches the down button. The lift jerks and the three brace themselves for a sudden drop. The lift stops jerking and begins to make a painfully slow escape. Zoe shakes her head and Jayne rolls his eyes.

Kaylee sighs in relief as she gently brings Shuttle One to a rest. It straddles the road, not that the road can be seen in the sandstorm. River is lying back on the bed, her hands up in the air in front of her.

"Three distinct phalanges… trapezoid…" she pauses, sitting up, and looks over at Kaylee, who shuts the engine down and retracts the wings.

"Very, very unlucky," River says loudly, more to herself than Kaylee "…checked his stars… beware of head injuries… I couldn't find a rabbits foot." she lies back on the bed again.

Kaylee gets up, a little weak kneed and walks to the bed. She carefully gets onto her hands and knees and sticks her hand under the bed, pulling out a wrench. She gets back to her feet, careful not to stand on the hem of her dress and pops open the maintenance hatch on the control panel. She moves the intricate mass of wires out of the way. With difficulty she undoes a large part of machinery, looks sadly at it then puts it in her small handbag. She closes up the maintenance panel again and gives the controls a sad little pat of apology. She returns the wrench to its hiding place under the bed. She sits next to River and sighs.

"And now we wait." she says quietly.

Silence falls. River stares up at the ceiling steadily. Kaylee adjusts her dress. Both of them look very bored. River suddenly sits up.

"Do you want to play I-spy?" she asks quietly.

Kaylee turns to her and looks at her carefully.

"Only if you promise me that you won't use any of your voodoo mind tricks." Kaylee replies.

"I can't promise anything." River shrugs.

She gives Kaylee a pleading look and Kaylee gives in, smiling.

"Okay, okay! I spy with my little-" River cuts across her.

"It's sand…" she says quietly.

"Cheat!" Kaylee cries giving River a playful shove.

"Not really," River replies smiling "You were going to play from the moment I raised the query, 'Do you want to play I-spy'. You also made your mind up about what you were going to choose first at the same time… that's why I didn't promise." The two girls look at each other then both dissolve into a fit of giggles.

Wash checks the scanner as he guides Serenity into her hiding place. He tuts loudly as the scanner crackles with static, obscuring his view.

"The sandstorm is playing havoc with my instruments." he says, twisting a dial.

The picture returns clearer, but it's still crackling with static. Rem is sat in the co-pilots seat, relaying a message. Serenity dips into a crater and Wash sighs as she gently comes to rest. Rem finishes her message and checks the time nervously. Wash catches her.

"No need to keep checking the time. We've got all the time in the world…" he pauses and rethinks this, "Well for about an hour and a half." he laughs at his own joke.

He gets up and stretches, moving off towards the dining room.

"Do you want anything while I'm up," he yells back "We've got some of those Fruity Oaty bar things, Rem… Rem?" he turns and comes face to face with Rem.

She looks pale and sweaty. She spins and kicks Wash in the head. He falls to the floor and his head hit's the door frame on the way down. Rem kneels down next to him and turns him over, he's definitely out cold. She sighs and looks over to the controls. She gets up and flicks a few switches to enable the second shuttle to leave. She looks down at Wash and shakes her head sadly.

"I'm so sorry, but you'll understand. I promise you, you'll understand." she mutters.

She takes a deep breath and begins to hoist Wash's limp body through Serenity.

The lift has finally made its decent to the hanger floor. Mal, Jayne and Zoe step down and look around. The boxes are piled too height to see over. Mal leads them forward…straight into a group of Alliance troops. At last fifteen of them are stood pointing their guns at Mal, Jayne and Zoe. There's a second where the three of them freeze.

"_Jen dao mai…_" Mal mutters to himself, under his breath.

Jayne dives for cover and Zoe pulls Mal behind a stack of boxes.

"You are bound by law! Step out with your hands up!" yells an Alliance soldier.

Jayne hurriedly pulls open a pocket of his coat and pulls out a grenade. He goes to pull the pin out with his teeth and realises he can't. The Alliance soldiers begin to advance on them. He hurriedly pulls the pin and rolls the grenade towards the troops. There's a mighty explosion and both Jayne and Zoe step out, firing through the smoke left behind. Mal hesitates, spots an Alliance soldier sneaking up behind Jayne through the smoke and plugs him. Jayne turns suddenly at the noise to see the soldier fall, dead.

"I owe you one." he yells to Mal.

In the smoke the gunfire is slowly dying down until, after a last gunshot from Zoe, the noise stops. The smoke of the grenade finally begins to dissipate. Mal, Jayne and Zoe stand looking around at the carnage the gun fight has left behind. Zoe rolls over one of the soldiers with her foot to check if he's still alive. He isn't. She looks up at Mal who looks at her closely through his tinted goggles.

"This was a set up." she says quietly.


	11. Chapter 10

Kaylee and River are sat on the bed. They've managed to find a pack of playing cards. They've managed to find a pack of playing cards. They're playing Go Fish. River is carefully studying her cards, her eyes narrow.

"Do you have any sevens?" she asks after a pause.

Kaylee looks down at her cards. A smile grows on her face.

"Nope, go fi-"

The comm cracking onto life, cutting her sentence off. Kaylee dashes over to the comm, nervously tidying up her hair as she goes. She hit's the comm.

"Shuttle, you are obstructing the road to an Alliance Base. What is your reason for this?" asks a harsh voiced Alliance officer.

Kaylee takes a deep breath.

"I'm afraid I don't rightly know, sir," she replies in her upper class accent "I was forced to land. I think this sandstorm may have knocked something loose."

The comm is silent. Kaylee bites her nails nervously awaiting a reply.

"We'll take a look for you, get you back in the air, or at least move you to a safe distance from the road. Is there anywhere you're headed?" the officer asks.

"There is, my friend and I are meeting a client. I haven't been able to contact him since we landed." Kaylee replies fiddling with her hair.

"Your client? May I ask your line of work?" the officer asks.

Kaylee gives a false silvery laugh that doesn't suit her n the slightest.

"Nothing illegal, sir, I'm a Registered Companion. I'm travailing with a trainee to show her the ropes, you might say." Kaylee replies.

She's beginning to look uncomfortable at the amount of questions she's being asked. The man chuckles. Its not a pleasant chuckle, rather, it's a slightly creepy, lecherous chuckle.

"We'll be there in five minutes. Sit tight ladies." he replies bluntly.

The comm goes quiet.

Kaylee twists the pilot seat round and smiles at River, then her face falls into a look of worry and concern. River is sat on the bed in a tight ball, the veil ripped off and a look of terror on her face. Kaylee rushes to her, worried by her expression.

"River, honey, whats the matter?" Kaylee asks holding Rivers hand tightly.

River stares forward, breathing heavily.

"Not safe, not safe. Can't see through the sand," she looks up at Kaylee "We've got to run."

"What," Kaylee asks shocked "No, no. You heard the Cap'n, we've gotta keep them here as long as possible."

River shakes her head wildly, her hair slipping out of is elaborate knot and falling over her shoulders.

"The plan in compromised." she mutters, staring wide eyed at Kaylee.

She dives under the bed and pulls the wrench out. Kaylee takes a step back from the bed and watches in stunned silence as River digs the part out of her handbag. River rushes to refit the part Kaylee removed. She just closes the maintenance panel when the shuttle door flies open. River turns sharply and Kaylee presses herself into a corner.

Stood in the doorway are three Alliance soldiers. They train their guns on River and Kaylee. River looks at them, her lips moving in silent calculation. The soldiers are wearing very light armour, little more than fabric. River spots a weak spot and, with expert precision she throws the wrench at the soldier just inside the door. It hits him hard across the forehead and her falls to the ground, out cold. The other two turn to see River dashing forward to attack. In a fluid movement, she front flips perfectly in the tight space and picks up the wrench as she flies over it. One of the soldiers breaks away and heads for Kaylee, who is still frozen in the corner. She screams and moves away from him swiftly, but trips, banging her head hard on the floor as she lands. River takes the third soldier down and rushes out of the shuttle into the sandstorm. Kaylee tries to pick herself up, looking dazed. She looks terrified them down. Kaylee makes it to the bed, pulling her self up onto it, then passes out.

Mal, Jayne and Zoe run out of the hanger at full pelt. The sandstorm is beginning to ease off and things are a little clearer to see. Jayne points to the truck that brought the soldiers to the hanger. He moves forward and spots the driver, a young Alliance cadet, leaning on the steering wheel, looking bored. Jayne runs forwards and drags him out of the cab, throwing him to the ground, hard. He pulls his gun out of its holster and aims for the cadets head, fully intending to put a bullet straight through his brain. The cadet is young, late teens at least and he is looking down the barrel of the gun, terrified. Mal grabs Jayne's wrist and points the gun away from the young cadets head. Jayne looks up at Mal, furiously staring at him. Mal just shakes his head and doesn't let go of Jayne's wrist. Jayne narrows his eyes and pulls his arm free. He re-holsters his gun and looks back down at the terrified cadet.

"Don't kill me, dear Buddha protect me!" the boy splutters beginning to cry slightly.

Jayne kicks him in the face, hard and with a stunned yelp of pain the cadet falls backwards, knocked out by the blow. Mal gives Jayne a pained look, his eyes tightly screwed up. Jayne, ignoring Mal, jumps into the drivers seat and Mal and Zoe pile into the passenger side. Jayne goes to start the engine but there are no keys. Instead there is a thumb scanner.

"Son of a bitch." he mutters.

Zoe pulls the panel below the steering wheel off and crosses two wires, sparking the vans engine into life. The engine roars and Jayne aims for the exit gates. Mal and Zoe brace themselves as they crash through the gates. They may have been locked up tight but the van just breaks through them like a knife through butter. It bursts onto the road. Zoe gives Jayne a cold, hard stare.

"You didn't have to kick that boy in the face back there." she says snappily.

"I didn't kill him, did I? Ain't that ruttin' enough?" he replies swinging the truck round a corner.

Mal sits in between the two of them, awkwardly watching their exchange.

"He was scared stiff, man. That boy couldn't have done nothin' to stop us." Zoe replies getting angry.

"You kiddin' me? He's Alliance and your standin' up for him?" Jayne yells back.

"No one else was gonna." Zoe mutters.

"Would you have done that in battle? Back when you and Mal were fightin' for freedom? Would you have saves a kids life, just cause he's a young'un if he was Alliance back then?" Jayne asks venomously.

Zoe freezes her eyes are barely slits under her goggles.

"Just drive, Jayne." she replies acidly.

Jayne laughs in triumph and swerves back onto the road. He looks shiftily back at Zoe who smirks at his poor driving skills.


	12. Chapter 11

Wash is sprawled against the crates at the back of Shuttle Two. He slowly begins to stir and he takes a deep breath, letting it out as a groan. He opens his eyes and blinks, looking around. He groggily wipes his brow with the back of the hand, he peers down at it, unable to focus on it properly. Its covered in blood. He frowns and blinks again, unable to comprehend what he's seeing. He looks up to see Rem sat in the pilot seat of the shuttle, hunched over the controls.

"Whats… whats going on? I'm… bleeding… whats up with that? Why'm I bleeding?" Wash asks, his speech slurred.

"I kicked you in the head." Rem says coldly, not turning t face him.

"In the head," Wash asks blinking stupidly "Wha…wha…d'you-why'd you kick me in the head? Wha'd I do?"

"I'm trying to pilot, shudder." Rem snaps.

Wash looks taken aback by her sharp tone. He carefully props himself up, leaning back on the pile of crates behind him. He looks around the shuttle dizzily.

"Why we in the shuttle," he pauses an he suddenly sobers up "Whats going on, Rem?"

"_Bizui!_ I need to make a call." She replies irritated.

She flicks the comm online. It crackles with static, then after a few second a loud voice booms out clearly. Rem turns the volume down hastily.

"This is the Alliance Cruiser Magellan. State your business, citizen." the voice says clearly.

"This is Remona Lewis. I think that you know what I'm talking about. I'm requesting passage through to you. I'm carrying one passenger, the one you allowed me. I brought you the rest of the crew back on Greenleaf." she replies in a tired voice.

Wash stares at her, wide eyed. Rem has her eyes closed waiting for a reply.

"You have been cleared. An Alliance Gunship will escort you to us. We advise you to hold position. ETA is half and hour." the man says stiffly.

Rem shakes her head angrily and grits her teeth.

"Can't you get here faster? Kind of a sitting duck here." Rem says coldly.

"You will stay put, Miss Lewis, or we are authorized to shoot you down…and kill your family." the man replies with a stiff coldness.

Rem silently seethes, her knuckles white on the yolk.

"Shuttle Two awaiting your arrival." Rem says, shutting the comm off.

Rem finally turns to Wash, who is trying to edge further back from her, but has no where to go. He looks horrified by what he's just heard.

"You ratted us out! You're a… a…" he stumbles for a word.

"A bitch?" Rem says hollowly.

"Yeah… that." he agrees, raising his eyebrows and kind of nods.

"I'm sorry, Wash-" Rem starts.

"Nu uh," Wash yells over the top of her "You don't go all sweet and like butter wouldn't melt! You screwed us over!"

"No," Rem roars back "I screwed the crew over! I got you a free pass outta here!"

"What?!" Wash asks in a yell.

There is a tense, cold silence between them. Wash looks gormless as he stares at Rem. Rem doesn't look back at him and she sniffs, beginning to get upset.

"I said I'd pull this job, bag the crew for the Alliance, after they captured my family. I had no choice. The Horizons' cloaking devise, ha… not so _tyentsai_ after all, I said I'd do it if they let my family go… and you… if they let you go." Rem sighs and looks at her hands rubbing them together.  
She doesn't look at Wash. Wash stares at her, open mouthed.

"You got me safe passage… why?" he asks, flabbergasted.

"Why do you think," Rem says smiling "I still care about you, idiotic as you are."

"And what about the people I care about? What about Zoe?" he demands.

Rem grinds her teeth, irritated by his comment.

"Sacrifices have to be made." she replies coldly.

Wash stares at her in stone cold hatred.

"If I had I gun, I'd shot you." he mutters venomously.

"Wish granted!" yells a disembodied voice.

Mal pops up from behind the massive pile of crates stacked up at the rear of the shuttle. Rem launches herself to her feet in a flash. Mal and Rem point their guns at each other in unison. Wash gets to his feet and stands between them holding his hands out to Mal.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Didn't mean that!" he says wide eyed.

Mal and Rem square off around Wash, each trying to get a clear shot of the other. Wash is doing a good job of being prime target.

"Did you think you could get away with stealin' my shuttle and kidnappin' my pilot?" Mal yells angrily.

"How the hell did you get on board? How'd you know?" Rem retorts.

"River, our resident mind reading _tyentsai!_" Mal replies with a grim smile.

"Gorramn it… knew there was something off with that moon brained girl, all that talk about bad luck and the such." Rem mutters to herself.

"Just, can we put the guns down?" Wash asks imploringly.

Not a chance. Mal, tired of the talk, pushes Wash out of the way and fires. Too late Wash pushes his arm, throwing his aim. The bullet has already hit its target, who staggers backwards, clutching her stomach. She slowly looks up at Mal, not dropping her aim and the crazy ass bitch smiles at him coolly. Keeping her gun trained on Mal, she rips open her shirt to reveal a skin tight bullet proof vest. Mal assesses the new situation, then in a lightning quick motion fires again and hits Rem in the kneecap. There'd definitely no armour there. Rem falls to the ground like a tonne of bricks. She growls and wildly fires her gun. The first shot catches Mal off guard and as he dodges it, he falls backwards gashing his arm open on a sharp strip of metal protruding from the corner of one of the crates. The second grazes Wash. He falls to the ground yelling in pain and clutching his thigh.

Mal recovers himself quickly and strides over to Rem, ignoring the steady stream of blood running down his arm. He kicks the gun out of her hand and it flies into an inaccessible corner.

"You're gonna pay for that." Mal growls.

Rem isn't listening to him. She's staring past him, horrified, at Wash, who is heaving himself onto a crate in immense pain. She looks mortified by her error.

"Wash-" she splutters.

Before she can say another word, Mal punches her, knocking her out.

Wash pulls his hand away from his thigh to check the damage. The bullet only grazed him, however it still left a very deep wound all the same and its bleeding heavily. He looks like he's bout to throw up. Mal ignores him and throws himself into the pilot seat and begins to set the controls for re-entry to into Greenleaf's atmo. Wash looks over at him.

"How the hell did you get on board, Mal." he asks, breathing heavily and trying very hard to stay lucid.

Mal laughs.

"I got me a clone." he mutters, turning the shuttle around.


	13. Chapter 12

Jayne roughly pulls the truck up next to Serenity's Shuttle One. The sandstorm has almost faded out, but everything still has a misty haze to it. Zoe and Mal jump out of the truck cab and hurry to the shuttle door. Jayne pounds on the shuttle door with his fist.

"Kaylee, let us in!" Zoe yells.

As she checks their backs, she freezes. The bodies of Alliance Soldiers lie scattered next to a second military truck. She kneels next to the soldier closest to her and checks his pulse. He's alive, just. The shuttle door opens and Zoe, Mal and Jayne dash inside out of the sandstorm. Everything inside the shuttle is messed up. Kaylee is lay back on the bed in the middle of the chaos looking woozy. She greats the new arrivals with a lazy wave and a lopsided smile. Zoe removes her scarf and goggles, shaking stray sand out of her hair.

"You okay, Kaylee?" she asks concerned.

"Shiny!" Kaylee replies a little breathlessly.

Jayne pulls his hat off and sighs in relief. He shakes himself like a wet dog, sending sand everywhere. Mal hovers near the door, awkwardly.

"What happened to the soldiers out there? They're out cold." Zoe asks.

"They were outnumbered." River says quietly from the corner.

She is crouched down next to a little pile of sand. She looks creepy, her eyes wide and her hair full of sand.

"She saved my life. Again." Kaylee says smiling at her.

Everyone stares at River who is now playing with the pile of sand on the floor, creating patterns with her fingers. Zoe looks over to Mal.

"What do we do now," she asks, but she doesn't get a reply "Sir?" she asks puzzled by the silence.

What little of Mal's face scrunches up and his eyes close. He reluctantly pulls off the scarf and goggles to reveal, its not Mal, but Simon looking sickly and pale. He stands there quietly looking silly in Mal's big coat. Everyone stares at him in shock.

"Hi." he says timidly.

The shuttle door opens, Wash and Mal struggle down the stairs. Wash has his arm slung over Mal's shoulders and Mal is heaving Wash down the stairs, sweat dripping off his brow.

"You recon you can fly us outta here 'fore you pass out?" Mal asks out of breath.

"Good to go." Wash replies in a cheerful voice.

He pats his roughly bandaged leg and winces in pain.

"Shouldn't have done that." he gasps in pain.

Mal leaves him at the bottom of the stairs leading up to the shuttle. He runs back up the steps and goes to lock the shuttle doors. Rem heckles him from inside.

"Just gonna leave me here to die," she yells hoarsely "_Wo xi wang ni man si duai xi a di yu!_"

Her words are suddenly cut off as Mal slams the door shut. He returns to Wash and continues to help him towards the bridge.

Surprisingly, its River sat piloting the shuttle through the weak sandstorm. Jayne is clinging onto the frame of the outer shuttle door, looking terrified. Zoe is getting her gun ready.

"See its unlucky to wear an opal if its not your birthstone." River says lightly.

Zoe looks up at her, irritated by her offhand comment.

"Will you keep your eyes on the sky? Only reason your flying is 'cause Kaylee can't." Zoe says waspishly.

Kaylee looks up from her hands at the sound of her name and looks at Zoe, barely focusing on her and looking disorientated. Simon holds her close to him, stroking her hair gently. The shuttle suddenly dips wildly sending Jayne slamming against the door.

"Why'd you let her gorramn drive, Zoe? She'll likely fly us into a cliff." Jayne demands.

River turns to him and sticks her tongue out, wiggling it. She turns back to the controls, idly steering with one hand, playing with her hair with the other. Jayne closes his eyes, looking nauseous. Zoe cocks her gun.

Wash tumbles into the pilot seat. He's sweaty and pale. He checks the control settings with Zen-like calm. He looks down at his leg and groans.

"Oh that's never gonna come out of the upholstery." he says looking down at the blood now soaking into the seat.

Mal throws him a 'this-isn't-time-for-jokes' look and Wash returns to his checks.

The proximity alarm sounds and their eyes snap to the scanner. They both let out a sigh. Its shuttle two. Wash hit's the comm.

"Zoe, you okay baby?" he asks calmly flicking switches.

"We're okay. All shiny my end. You?" Zoe replies.

Wash thinks for a second then shrugs, deciding to tell her the truth.

"Meh. Got shot, kicked in the head… the usual." he says light heartedly.

There's silence from the comm.

"You'd better be joking, husband." Zoe pauses "River is bringing us in now."

"You let River loose on my gorramn shuttle? Are they no longer my property? Tell me someone please, who the hell bought them from under me?" he asks.

"Flying is easy. I mean its basic mathematical-"

"Okay, okay," Mal cuts across River "Just move it. We got an Alliance Gunship on our tail."

"How'd the hell did that happen, Sir?" asks Zoe, back in control of the comm.

"Long story, dear." Wash mutters.

"Docking in 3-2-1." River says loudly.

Serenity gives a little shudder at the shuttle docks. Wash throttles Serenity's engines, eager to leave.

Serenity rises into the air from its hiding place, which is a high walled crater. It comes nose to nose with a much smaller Alliance ship. The ship throttles its engines and hits Serenity head on, denting her nose horribly. Serenity is pitched back by the force of the attack and she backs into the opposite side of the crater, mashing up her rear. She begins to spew smoke.

Wash and Mal have been thrown forward by the impact. Wash eases back into his chair slowly, his lip is split and the knuckles of most of his fingers are badly grazed. Mal picks himself up off the ground, his nose is bleeding heavily and his eyes are already turning black. He pulls himself to his feet and stands back behind Wash, breathing heavily through his mouth. He spits blood onto the floor and glares forward, his eyes narrowed.

The Alliance ship lands heavily on the sloping side of the crater. It rolls down the side, flipping several times then lands in a crumpled heap at the bottom of the crater. It bursts into a ball of flame. Above it, Serenity blasts towards atmo. She's barely airworthy.

Zoe and Jayne haul themselves up from the floor at the top of the stairs leading to the cargo bay floor. Jayne rolls onto his back, groaning and holding onto his wrist. Simon and Kaylee are in a heap at the bottom of the stairs on the floor of the cargo bay. Simon is holding Kaylee to him and she had landed on top of him. Kaylee rolls off him and untangles herself from his arms, Simon is out cold. River is stood on the steps, still perfectly balanced with one foot hovering over the next step.

"Sprained my gorramn wrist." Jayne grunts in pain.

Zoe wipes her cut with her hand. She looks down the stairs and rushes to check on Simon and Kaylee. Simon is slowly coming round and Kaylee clutches his hand tightly, looking worried.

Serenity blasts through atmo. She leaves black smoke in the sky behind her. She's pretty badly beaten up. She lists lazily, then straightens out with a slight struggle. She heads forwards, shakily, away from Greenleaf.

As Serenity struggles forward, Wash checks the scanner. He looks worriedly up at Mal.

"We need to hit Full Burn… now. Get Kaylee to the engine room." he says agitated.

He's slightly loosing his Zen calm. Without warning the Alliance Gunship stalking them rears into view. The proximity alarm blares out. Mal stares at the ship in horror.

"_Hun dan ni zu zong shi da dai…_" he mutters under his breath "Wash, get your ass in gear and get us the hell outta here!" he adds loudly.

Wash shakes his head hopelessly. He twists Serenity around in a violent movement. Mal looks at him as if he's gone completely crazy.

"Where'd the hell d'you think you're headed?" he yells.

"Can't outrun them, Mal. Not possible. But I got a plan," Wash pauses "Sorta."

Mal doesn't look overly confident at the idea of Wash's apparent plan.


	14. Chapter 13

On the bridge of Serenity, Wash and Mal stare at their impending doom. The ground rushes up to meet them. The nose of Serenity is bulging from where she was hit. Its making it difficult to see through the window clearly. Wash is concentrating, his eyes set on the ground. He ignores the blood that runs into his eyes. Mal's hand is gripped uncomfortably tight on Wash's shoulder.

Serenity bucks slightly, threatening to flip, but Mal stands firm. Wash pulls at the yolk, keeping her from spinning wildly as she continues to pick up speed.

"I'm sorry Mal, this is all my gorramn fault. I should never have gotten you the job. It was suicide." Wash says calmly.

"My ship, my fault. You're an amazing pilot, Wash." Mal replies giving Wash a friendly clap on the shoulder.

Wash grits his teeth, looking like he's about to throw up. Mal closes his eyes ready for impact. But it never comes.

Wash pulls Serenity up roughly. Feet from the ground she blasts back into the air, pulling out of her nosedive. The Alliance Gunship doesn't have time to pull up as Serenity pulls away. The Gunship hit's the ground and explodes on impact, throwing sand and metal into the air. Serenity, although a little shaky and still smoking, heads once more for atmo, leaving its fallen opponent behind.

The crew is sat in the dining room, beaten, bruised and in some cases, still bleeding, but still alive. Simon has had his work cut out and he's patched everyone up, including himself. Rem is sat in a spare chair looking sickly and pale. Mal towers over her, his arms crossed, his face sullen.

"Give me a good reason why I shouldn't kill you." he asks in a monotone.

Rem doesn't look at him, but shrugs.

"Don't matter, my family is probably dead by now… so you may as well shoot me." she mutters.

Jayne gets to his feet and reaches for his gun with his good hand. Surprisingly, Kaylee puts her hand on his arm gently and shakes her head. Jayne looks down at her and puts his gun away, sitting down slowly. Mal watches him take his seat and turns back to Rem.

"I honestly don't know what we're gonna do with you." he sighs.

"We should dump her outta the air lock." Jayne mutters quietly.

Rem laughs hollowly. Mal looks back at Rem once more, she has a pained smile on her face.

"No…we find the closest planet and dump her. Wash how far to the next planet?" Mal says turning to Wash who is sat tight lipped.

"Closest is Lilac." Wash replies not looking at Rem.

"That's where you get off then." Mal says walking away from Rem.

She watches him coldly, her eyes slip over to Wash who at last meets her eyes. She breaks away from his hate filled look and returns to staring back at her knee.

"I tried to tell you. I wanted to, but I just… I'm so sorry." Rem mutters quietly in a mournful voice.

Mal ignores her and looks over to Jayne a small, dark smile on his face.

"Put her in one of the spare rooms and lock it." he says putting his hands on his hips.

Jayne pulls his face into a twisted grin. He strides over to Rem and practically drags her towards the passenger rooms. Once they're out of the room, Wash buries his head in his hands.

"Son of a…" he mutters.

Zoe squeezes his shoulder and follows Jayne, giving Mal a 'don't-even-think-about-stopping-me' look. Mal nods and turns away from her, looking back at his crew.

Kaylee sadly watches Zoe go.

"It wasn't her fault you know." she says in a small voice.

Everyone turns and stares at her, she stares back at them reproachfully.

"The Alliance took her family… she was blackmailed." she says in a tiny voice.

Mal nods in agreement, then raises his eyebrows and smiles slightly.

"Which is why she ain't dead." Mal says quietly.

Serenity is parked up in the middle of nowhere, her engines still running. Rem is sat in a heap on the ground, looking up at Serenity. There's a new bruise swelling up on her face. As he ramp closes up, Zoe stares at her coldly through the gap in the closing doors. As Serenity's engines fire up, Rem holds her hand over her eyes to shield them from the sun. She watches as Serenity glides upwards, shaky, but still flying true.

"Goodbye old friend." she mutters as Serenity hits atmo and disappears into the black.

Kaylee is straightening up the passenger rooms, changing the sheets of the bed. River, still in her sari, is watching her from a corner of the room. Kaylee pulls the sheets off the bed roughly and a small bag lands at River's feet. River picks it up and gives it a feel. She hands it to Kaylee, who empties it out onto the bed. It's money. An awful lot of money and with it is a hastily scribbled note.

"Rem, she must have left it." Kaylee says quietly.

She opens up the note and reads it. She looks sadly down at the money.

"She left it as an apology." River says quietly.

Kaylee nods and stuffs the money back into the bag. She leaves the bed in a tangle of sheets and walks through to the common area here Mal and Zoe are playing cards. Mal nervously picks at the bandage on his arm as Zoe takes her turn.

"Cap'n… Rem, she left this." Kaylee says handing the bag over to Mal.

Zoe gives it a distrusting look. Mal empties the contents onto the table and Zoe's eyebrows shoot up. Mal picks up the note.

"'The other half of the money for the job. Fix Serenity and keep flying.'" he reads out loud "Well… ain't that something?" he mutters looking down at the money.

Rem pulls her coat around he tighter. She's huddled up, still staring up at the spot where Serenity broke atmo. She holds her hand up, wrapped around it is a broken silver chain with a tear shaped pendant. It's Zoe's opal necklace. She watches it glint, throwing out a rainbow glow in the fading daylight. Tears begin to run down her face. Anger is etched over her face and her hands shake in rage. She throws the necklace down and picks up a rock. She smashes a the opal over and over again, letting out a primal roar.

River is sat alone in her room, writing frantically. Suddenly she stops dead and looks up. A smile spreads across her face.

"No more bad luck." she mutters.

She sits as still as a statue for a while, still smiling to herself, then blinks and looks back down at her writing. Continuing to write she beginning to hum an old Earth-That-Was lullaby.

FIN


End file.
